{^cAj^ra^u^ 


ANNIVERSARY    SERVICE 


FOURTH    AVENUE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 


NEW  YORK,    MARCH  5,   1S83. 


Presented    to    Princeton    Theological   Seminary 
By  the  l^ev.  Wendell  Pfime,  D.D. 

To  be  Kept  Always  as  a  Separate  Collection. 


ANNIVERSARY    SERVICES. 


1863-1883. 


TWENTIETH     ANNIVERSARY 


OF  THE  SETTLEMENT 


HOWARD    CROSBY,   D.D., 


AS    PASTOR    OF    THE 


FOURTH    AVENUE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH, 


MARCH   5,    1883, 


IN     THE     CHURCH,    B^OURTH     AVE.    AND     TWENTY-SECOND     ST. 


"t 


NEW     YORK. 
1883. 


Early  in  January,  1883,  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  and  Parish  resolved,  with  marked  unanimity,  to  cele- 
brate the  Twentieth  Anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  their  pastor. 
Rev.  Howard  Crosby,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  a  committee  of  arrange- 
ments was  appointed,  under  whose  care  this  purpose  was  carried 
out,  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen  : 

Ralph  Wells,  William  F,  Lee, 

George  E.  Sterry,  James  M.  Farr. 

Warner  Van  Norden,       Elias  J.  Herrick, 
Anson  D.  F.  Randolph,     Isaac  V.  Brokaw, 
Morris  S.  Thompson,         George  G.  Moore, 
Charles  N.  Taintor. 

The  project  from  the  beginning  enlisted  the  hearty  sympathy 
and  generous  co-operation  of  the  people  ;  and  the  committee 
was  thus  enabled  to  make  of  the  occasion  an  event  memorable 
to  all  concerned. 

The  clear,  cold  weather  of  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  March, 
favored  the  assemblage  of  a  very  large  audience,  that  not  only 
packed  the  house  of  worship  to  its  utmost  capacity,  but  over- 
flowed upon  the  streets.  The  pulpit  was  decked  with  beautiful 
and  rare  flowers,  and  with  plants  of  high-colored  and  luxuriant 
foliage, — a  cushion  of  blossoms  in  front  of  the  desk,  displaying 
the  number  "20."  In  the  crowded  congregation  were  many 
well-known  representative  clergymen,  professional  celebrities,, 
and  influential  citizens ;  while  on  the  platform  were  numerous 
eminent  divines,  including  not  only  those  who  were  to  take 
part  in  the  exercises,  but  also  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock,  President 
of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Rev.  Dr.  Erskine  N.  White, 
Rev.  Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  Jr.,  and  others. 

A  most  pleasing  feature  was  the  presence  of  former  members 


of  the  church  ;  some  of  whom  had  come  long  distances  to  renew 
old  memories,  and  to  share  in  the  congratulations  of  the  hour. 

The  services  were  thoroughly  enjoyable.  The  organ  and 
choral  voluntaries  were  appropriate,  and  rendered  not  only  with 
artistic  execution,  but  also  with  evident  devoutness  ;  while  the 
addresses  were  listened  to  with  the  intense  interest  they  deserved, 
and  called  forth  lively  applause  whenever  allusion  was  made  to 
the  pastor. 

The  public  exercises,  which  lasted  until  nearly  ten  o'clock, 
were  followed  by  a  reception  to  Dr.  Crosby,  and  a  social  reunion 
in  the  chapel,  where  refreshments  were  served.  A  popular 
response  to  the  addresses  of  the  speakers  in  the  audience-room, 
now  found  expression  in  numberless  hearty  salutations  to  the 
Pastor,  and  mutual  congratulations  among  the  people. 

This  memorial  is  offered  to  all  who  share  with  us  in  love 
for  the  Master  in  the  belief  that  it  records  the  occurrence  of  a 
new  starting-point  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Fourth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church  and  parish,  and  is  sent  forth  as  a  per- 
manent token  of  love  and  gratitude  to  our  beloved  Pastor,  and 
as  a  present  indication  of  faith  in  our  future,  under  his  wise 
and  faithful  guidance. 


ORDER   OF    EXERCISES. 


TWENTIETH    ANNIVERSARY    SERVICE. 


REV.    S.    IREN^EUS    PRIME,    D.D.,    WILL    PRESIDE. 


DOXOLOGY.         ----__       T7i7ie,  "  Old  Hundred." 
"  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

SCRIPTURE  READING.     -      By  Rev.  Charles  P.  Fagnani, 

Pastor  Grace  Chapel. 


Psalm  103. 


PRAYER. 


HYMN. 


By  Rev.  Wm.  J.  McKiTTRiCK, 

Pastor  Hope  Chapel. 


Tune,  "  Dundee' 


City  of  God,  how  broad  and  far 

Outspread  thy  walls  sublime  ! 
The  true  thy  chartered  freemen  are, 

Of  every  age  and  clime. 

One  holy  Church,  one  army  strong. 

One  steadfast,  high  intent. 
One  working  band,  one  harvest  song. 

One  King  Omnipotent. 

How  purely  hath  thy  speech  come  down 

From  man's  primeval  youth  ! 
How  grandly  hath  thine  empire  grown 

Of  freedom,  love,  and  truth  ! 

How  gleam  thy  watch-fires  through  the  night 

With  never-fainting  ray  ! 
How  rise  thy  towers  serene  and  bright, 

To  meet  the  dawning  day  ! 

In  vain  the  surges'  angry  shock, 

In  vain  the  drifting  sands  ; 
Unharmed,  upon  the  Eternal  Rock 

The  Eternal  City  stands. 


Rev.  S.  Iren^us  Prime,  D.D. 


OPENING  ADDRESS. 

ANTHEM.  -        _         -         _      From  Gounod's  "Redemption'' 

"  Lovely  appear  over  the  mountains  the  feet  of  them  that 


preach,  and  bring  good  news  of  peace." 


ADDRESS. 


ADDRESS. 


By  Rev.  James  M.  King,  D.D., 

0/  the  Mcthcdist  Episcopal  Church, 

By  Rev.  Wilbur  F.  Watkins,  D.D.,. 

Of  the  Protesta7tt  Episcopal  Church. 


HYMN. 


Tunc,  ''Austria. 


ADDRESS. 


ADDRESS. 


Hail,  Thou  God  of  grace  and  glory, 

Who  Thy  name  hast  magnified 
By  redemption's  wondrous  story, 

By  the  Saviour  crucified  ; 
Thanks  to  Thee  for  every  blessing 

Flowing  from  the  Fount  of  love  ; 
Thanks  for  present  good  unceasing, 

And  for  hopes  of  bliss  above. 

Hear  us,  as  thus  bending  lowly, 

Near  Thy  bright  and  burning  throne. 
We  invoke  Thee,  God  most  holy. 

Through  Thy  well-beloved  Son  ; 
Send  the  baptism  of  Thy  Spirit, 

Shed  the  pentecostal  fire  ; 
Let  us  all  Thy  grace  inherit, 

Waken,  crown  each  good  desire. 

Bind  Thy  people,  Lord,  in  union, 

With  the  sevenfold  cord  of  love  ; 
Breathe  the  spirit  of  communion 

With  the  glorious  hosts  above  ; 
Let  Thy  work  be  seen  progressing  ; 

Bow  each  heart  and  bend  each  knee. 
Till  the  world.  Thy  truth  possessing. 

Celebrates  its  jubilee. 


By  Rev.  William  M.  Taylor,  D.D. 

0/  the  Congregational  Church. 


By  Rev.  Robert  S.  MacArthur,  D.D., 

Of  the  Baptut  Church. 

CHORUS.       -         -         -         -         From  Mendelssohn  s  "  St.  Paul:' 
"  How  lovely  are  the  Messengers  that  preach  us  the  Gospel  of  Peace." 

ADDRESS.  -        -        By  Rev.  William  Ormiston,  D.D., 

0/  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 


ADDRESS. 


DOXOLOGY. 


From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies 
Let  the  Creator's  praise  arise  ; 
Let  the  Redeemer's  name  be  sung 
Through     every     land,    by    every 
tongue. 


By  Rev.  John  Hall.  D.D., 

Of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Tunc,  "  Duke  Street^ 

Eternal  are  Thy  mercies,  Lord  : 
Eternal  truth  attends  Thy  word  ; 
Thy  praise  shall  sound  from  shore 

to  shore 
Till  suns  shall  set  and  rise  no  more. 


BENEDICTION. 


By  the  Pastor. 


THE   ADDRESSES. 


THE    ADDRESSES 


At  half-past  seven  o'clock  the  Rev.  S.  Iren/eus 
Prime,  D.D.,  took  the  chair,  and  the  pulpit  was 
occupied  by  the  officiating  clergy  and  guests. 
After  the  preliminary  devotional  exercises,  the 
President  said  : 

My  Christian  friends  of  this  church  and  congregation, 
I  appreciate  very  highly  the  honor  that  you  have  done 
me  in  asking  me  to  take  the  chair  this  evening.  I  re- 
joice with  you  on  this  interesting  occasion,  an  occasion 
that  will  be  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  church. 

Before  introducing  to  you  the  speakers  of  the  even- 
ing, it  will  be  interesting  and  profitable  to  make  a  brief 
review  of  the  history  of  the  church  under  the  pastorate 
of  Dr.  Crosby. 

The  church  itself  is  now  fifty-eight  years  old.  When 
Dr.  Crosby  came  here  in  1863  he  found  the  church, 
which  had  had  three  distinguished  pastors  before  him — 
Matthias  Bruen,  Erskine  Mason,  and  Joel  Parker — with 
120  names  as  members  on  its  roll,  and  only  47  of  them 
could  be  found  in  the  city.  The  membership  of  the 
church  now  is  1,413.  During  the  twenty  years  of  this 
pastorate  the  number  of  persons  who  have  joined   the 


14 

church  on  profession  of  faith,  worshipping  in  the  parent 
church,  is  456  ;  those  who  have  joined  on  profession^ 
worshipping  in  the  chapel,  are  in  numbers  639,  making  a 
total  of  1,095,  or  an  average  of  55  per  year  for  the  twenty 
years.  During  the  same  time  there  has  joined  the  church 
by  certificate  807  in  this  house,  and  73  in  the  chapel, 
making  a  total  of  880,  an  average  of  44  yearly,  or  mak- 
ing a  grand  total  of  persons  received  in  these  twenty 
years  1,975,  within  25  of  2,000  souls  that  have  been 
added  to  the  church,  or  almost  100  for  each  of  these 
twenty  years.  The  greatest  number  in  one  year  was  in 
1867,  when  135  were  received,  and  the  greatest  number 
by  profession  was  in  1876,  when  103  members  were  re- 
ceived. 

Two  flourishing  missions  have  been  commenced,  and 
they  are  both  in  a  highly  prosperous  condition  ;  regular 
services  are  held  in  them,  and  each  has  a  faithful  pastor, 
and  both  are  doing  an  aggressive  work.  It  is  one  of  the 
pleasant  features  of  the  evening  that  both  of  the  pastors 
are  here  and  participate  in  these  services. 

In  addition  to  these,  two  other  missions  were  for  a  time 
sustained  until  absorbed  in  other  organizations.  In  its 
three  Sunday-schools  the  church  has  the  care  of  nearly 
1,500  children,  all  directly  under  the  instruction  of  its 
members.  Besides  the  extended  chapel-work,  there  are 
maintained  ''A  Helping  Hand,"  three  sewing-schools, 
meetings  and  lectures  at  the  chapel,  prayer-meetings, 
young  people's  and  mothers'  prayer -meetings,  also  a 
ladies'  Bible-class  in  charge  of  the  pastor,  and  the  usual 
meetings  of  the  church. 

It  is  an   interesting  fact  that  the  families  of   all  the 


15 

former  pastors  of  the  church  have  attended  the  church 
till  changes  have  occurred  by  death  or  removal.  Dur- 
ing the  twenty  years,  Dr.  Crosby  has  been  absent  on  ac- 
count of  sickness  but  three  months,  and  from  all  other 
causes  one  month,  making  a  total  of  four  months  only 
in  the  twenty  years,  excepting  annual  vacations. 

The  church  has  contributed  for  benevolent  purposes, 
and  in  addition  to  the  usual  pew-rents  during  the  last 
ten  years,  $170,000  in  all.  The  total  amount  raised  for 
congregational  and  benevolent  purposes  during  the  past 
ten  years  is  $350,000. 

Recognizing  these  facts,  this  congregation — not  their 
pastor,  for  they  devised  and  arranged  it — have  deter- 
mined to  celebrate  to-night  this  joyful  anniversary, 
marking  the  return  of  the  day  that  united  them  in 
the  holy  relation  of  pastor  and  people. 

They  thank  God  for  such  a  pastor,  a  man  whom  God 
has  honored,  whom  the  churches  hold  in  honor  ;  a  man 
who  combines  in  himself  the  scholar,  the  citizen,  the 
minister,  and  the  friend  ;  of  whom  it  is  hard  to  say  in 
what  department  of  Christian  learning,  work,  and  worth 
he  is  most  illustrious  ;  a  man  of  courage,  heroism,  faith, 
and  pluck  ;  who,  like  John  Knox,  never  feared  the  face 
of  clay  ;  born  for  the  times,  to  be  a  leader  of  men,  per- 
haps to  be  a  martyr.  God  bless  him  !  In  the  future  he 
is  the  man  for  the  battles  that  are  just  upon  us  ;  in  every 
conflict  for  virtue,  purity,  honor,  morality,  and  religion- 
whoever  may  waver  and  fail,  you  shall  see  in  the  thick, 
est  of  the  fight  his  white  plume  blazing  like  a  star,  as 
his  stout  right  arm  strikes  home  for  humanity  and  God. 
God  be  thanked  for  giving  you   and  the  city  and  the 


world,  the  pastor  whom  we  congratulate  to-night  on  the 
return  of  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  his  settlement 
here. 

The  order  of  the  programme  will  be  slightly  changed 
in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  Dr.  Chambers,  who, 
from  illness,  has  been  compelled  to  be  absent  from  the 
city  for  a  time. 

After  the  choir  had  sung  the  anthem,  ''  Lovely 
appear  over  the  mountains  the  feet  of  them  that 
preach  and  bring  good  news  of  peace,"  the  Chair- 
man said  : 

My  friends,  it  would  be  very  interesting  to  me  and 
somewhat  so  to  you,  if  I  should,  in  introducing  these 
several  speakers,  give  you  a  brief  biographical  sketch  of 
them,  together  with  some  account  of  the  particular 
church  which  they  serve  and  the  denomination  also 
which  they  represent  ;  but  as  there  are  six  of  them,  and. 
they  are  to  occupy  ten  minutes  each,  and  as  they  are  all 
as  well  known  to  you  as  they  are  to  me,  it  is  quite  un- 
necessary that  I  should  take  any  of  the  precious  time 
this  evening  in  such  an  account ;  and,  therefore,  waiving 
the  form  of  introduction,  I  shall  content  myself  with 
merely  announcing  their  names  to  you  as  they  will  come 
in  their  order.  As  I  said.  Dr.  Chambers  is  absent,  but 
his  place  will  be  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ormiston, 
who  will  come  in  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  and  we 
shall  first  have  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  the  Rev. 
James  M.  King,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 


ADDRESS 

BY  THE  REV.   JAMES  M.   KING,   D.D.,  OF  THE  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 


DR.    KING'S   ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  Friends  :  Before 
coming  to  this  place  this  evening,  a  company  of  us  as- 
sembled here  on  the  platform  were  requested  to  say 
nothing  in  respect  to  the  commander-in-chief  who  has 
marshalled  these  forces  for  twenty  years,  but  we  after- 
wards ascertained  that  the  proceedings  this  evening  are 
entirely  out  of  his  hands,  and  in  the  hands  of  a  com- 
mittee ;  but  the  presiding  ofificer  this  evening  has  already 
broken  the  rule,  and  under  the  apparent  guise  of  solemnity 
has  followed  the  example  of  that  eminent  American  phil- 
osopher, Artemus  Ward,  who,  lecturing  on  the  subject, 
"  The  Babes  in  the  Woods,"  talked  upon  every  subject 
but  that  one,  and  closed  up  the  discussion  of  each  theme 
by  saying,  *^  That  is  what  I  would  have  said  had  I  been 
lecturing  on  that  subject." 

A  representative  of  the  oldest  of  the  denominations 
in  this  city  was  to  have  appropriately  opened  the  serv- 
ices of  this  hour,  and  now  a  representative  of  the  young- 
est is  called  upon,  and  the  procession  of  the  denomina- 
tions to  follow  under  the  grand  leadership,  as  you  will 
see  by  reference  to  your  programmes,  makes  me  trem- 
ble, so  I  will  hasten  to  perform,  promptly  and  briefly, 
my  glad  duty  and  privilege  in  this  memorable  hour. 

Statistics  may  be  very  brief  and  occupy  but  little 
space,  and  yet  be  pregnant  with  great  facts.  We  cele- 
brate to-night    the   completion  of   a  period  of  twenty 


20 

years  of  the  history  of  this  Christian  church  under  the 
leadership  of  one  pastor.  You  have  hstened  to  the  sta- 
tistics which  have  told  briefly  the  tale  of  struggle,  of 
progress,  and  of  triumph,  and  I  am  sure  that  all  of  us 
gathered  here  to-night  are  ready  to  say  to  its  chief  serv- 
ant, ''  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  and  to  say 
to  all  these  servants  who  have  been  co-operating  with 
him,  ''Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servants."  We 
have  had  all  sorts  of  centennial  celebrations  during  the 
past  few  years,  but  it  becomes  us  not  to  wait  one  hun- 
dred years  before  we  celebrate  the  achievements  of  such 
a  man  and  such  a  church,  lest  the  tabulated  results 
should  be  confusing. 

We  give  receptions  and  ovations  to  warriors  after  vic- 
tories, and  to  statesmen  after  triumphs,  and  certainly 
here  are  victories  and  triumphs  more  worthy  of  praise 
than  bloody  conflicts  and  noisy  displays.  Successful 
battles  fought  without  carnal  weapons,  and  grand  tri- 
umphs achieved  without  bluster. 

This  church  has  been  happy  in  its  pastor,  and  this 
pastor  happy  in  his  people,  but  all  denominations,  and 
all  good  citizens  of  this  city,  claim  some  proprietorship 
in  the  man  who  has  commanded  this  fortress  for  God 
for  a  score  of  years.  He  has  not  stood  inside  of  the 
fort  and  sent  out  troops  to  do  the  fighting,  but  he  has 
gone  forth  and  led  in  the  encounter. 

While  this  pastor  has  commanded  the  respect  of  men, 
and  rallied  about  him  as  friends  hosts  of  the  best  of 
men,  he  has  also  been  fortunate  in  his  foes.  That  is 
not  always  true  of  all  men.  The  law-breakers  don't  like 
him.     I  recently  heard  one  of  them  say,  "  I  don't  care 


21 

about  most  of  these  pious  people,  but  that  Dr.  Crosby 
hain't  got  reHgion  enough  to  keep  him  from  fighting 
us."  Professional  politicians  have  not  taken  to  him  in 
late  years,  and  especially  since  last  fall  they  don't  min- 
gle his  name  with  praises.  The  newspapers,  whose  con- 
stituency is  principally  found  among  the  class  where  the 
*'  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime  "  operates,  are  not 
ardent  in  their  love  for  him.  Enemies  of  the  American 
civil  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rightful  rest  and  of  protected 
religious  worship  are  not  his  extravagant  admirers,  and 
occasionally  his  face  looks  out  from  the  picture  gallery 
of  cartoons,  where,  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  the  hands  that 
traced  them  did  not  mean  to  make  the  features  of  loved 
ones. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say  that  one  of  the  chief  faults 
I  have  to  find  with  Dr.  Crosby  is,  that  he  fills  so  much 
of  the  space  in  the  newspapers,  in  imparting  instruction, 
and  in  attacking  and  in  being  attacked,  that  they  have 
but  little  room  to  say  anything  about  the  rest  of  us.  I 
have  just  returned  from  the  South.  I  happened  to  pick 
up  a  paper  one  day  in  a  Southern  city,  and  the  first 
thing  that  caught  my  eye  was  the  heading,  *'  Dr.  How- 
ard Crosby  and  the  Fifth  Avenue  Gamblers,"  and  when 
in  Washington,  one  of  the  local  papers  headed  an  article, 
"  Dr.  Crosby  Needed  in  this  City  ";  and  when  I  got 
possession  of  my  New  York  newspaper,  and  learned  that 
Dr.  Crosby  had  been  speaking  at  a  meeting  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  Temperance  Society,  although 
away  from  home,  1  knew  that  matters  would  be  attended 
to  rightly  because  Dr.  Crosby  was  not  away  ;  and  when 
I  reached  Jersey  City  early  Saturday  morning  last,  I  pur- 


chased  a  copy  of  a  New  York  paper  that  first  came  to 
hand,  and  the  principal  editorial  was  headed,  "  What 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Crosby  Thinks  of  New  York  ";  then,  I  say 
to  you,  my  friends,  despite  the  fact  that  my  intellectual 
powers  were  somewhat  clouded  by  a  slumber  scarcely  yet 
broken,  I  appreciated  the  fact  that  I  was  nearing  home. 

The  editorial  said,  among  other  complimentary  re- 
marks :  "  No,  New  York  is  not  a  Sodom.  The  would-be 
reformers  like  Dr.  Crosby  do  not  understand  New  York, 
and  are  not  in  sympathy  with  a  majority  of  the  people. 
It  is  a  very  much  bigger  place,  and  a  far  more  cosmo- 
politan one,  than  it  was  when  they  were  young.  Doc- 
trines, political  and  social,  which  Presbyterian  clergy- 
men regard  as  God's  truth,  the  majority  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  reject  with  aversion.  They  have  their 
own  notions  about  what  are  the  reforms  most  necessary, 
and  the  methods  best  adapted  to  bring  them  to  pass." 

I  guess  this  last  utterance  is  so,  and  because  it  is  so, 
it  is  all  the  more  pitiable  that  this  "  aversion  "  to  truth 
should  find  defenders  in  the  public  press.  This  morn- 
ing I  was  amazed  to  find,  in  reading  my  paper,  that  only 
two  assaults  were  made  upon  Dr.  Crosby  yesterday,  and 
I  could  not  account  for  this  temperate  state  of  things 
until  turning  to  the  heading,  "  What  is  Going  on  To- 
day," I  found  a  notice  of  the  combined  assault  to  be 
made  upon  him  at  his  headquarters  to-night.  Dr.  Crosby 
has  not  become  conspicuous  by  eccentric  and  abnormal 
advertisements  and  exhibitions,  but  by  great  endow- 
ments, conscientiously  cultured  and  heroically  employed  ; 
and  yet  with  this  vantage  ground,  it  is  difficult  for  me 
to  understand  how  he  has  found  time  to  go  out  in  so 
many  directions  of  helpful  activity. 


23 

I  desire  to  pay  my  tribute  to  the  grand  work  for  God 
and  humanity  wrought  by  this  noble  people,  and  I  bring 
to  you  the  Christian  salutations  of  another  branch  of 
the  Father's  family.  And  to  your  honored  leader  I  de- 
sire to  pay  my  tribute  to  his  accurate  and  broad  scholar- 
ship, and  to  his  executive  ability,  that  have  found  their 
field  in  lectureship  and  in  chancellorship,  and  in  promot- 
ing the  varied  educational  interests,  religious,  moral, 
and  secular,  of  this  city. 

I  desire  to  pay  my  tribute  to  his  spotless  ministerial 
character,  that  has  never  been  subordinated  to  his  other 
varied  callings,  but  has  stood  in  the  van  of  them  all. 

I  desire  to  pay  my  tribute  to  him  as  a  man  and  citi- 
zen ;  a  man  of  the  most  pronounced  convictions  and 
neutral  on  no  subject  ;  a  citizen,  who,  evading  no  per- 
sonal responsibility,  and  seeking  to  arouse  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  an  adequate  sense  of  theirs,  has  not  hesitated 
to  face  juries  and  judges,  commissioners  and  mayors, 
law-makers  and  law-breakers,  and  governors,  and  to 
touch  all  possible  springs  of  influence  for  the  public 
good. 

I  desire  to  pay  my  tribute  to  his  unselfish  friendship, 
that  is  never  jealous  of  a  brother's  success  and  is  ever 
jealous  for  a  brother's  weal. 

I  have  not  always  agreed  with  him  ;  to  do  that  would 
not  be  creditable  to  either  of  us  perhaps.  Of  course  I 
know  positively  that  he  has  gone  wrong  in  some  things, 
but  I  have  always  respected  the  depth  and  sincerity  of 
his  convictions,  and  must  confess  that  when  he  has 
ceased  speaking  on  what  I  have  sometimes  esteemed 
the  wrong  side  of  a  question,  he  has  put  his  thoughts 


24 

with  such  a  royal  air  of  authority  and  power,  that  I 
have  been  for  the  moment  indined  to  look  again  to  the 
foundations  of  my  faith.  His  Calvinism,  I  conclude, 
has  given  him  his  great  courage,  while  an  unconfessed 
tendency  to  Arminianism  has  given  him  an  awful  sense 
of  responsibility  that  fitted  him,  so  the  brethren  say,  to 
"  preach  with  acceptability  "  for  some  time  to  a  Metho- 
dist congregation. 

My  highest  hope  for  this  people  is,  that  the  coming 
twenty  years  may  repeat  the  history  in  ratio  of  the  past 
twenty,  only  starting  from  the  advanced  stand-point  of 
momentum  where  you  find  yourselves  to-night. 


AD  DRESS 

BY    THE    REV.    WILLIAM    F.    WATKINS,    D.D.,    OF    THE 
PROTESTANT   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 


DR.    WATKINS'   ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  my  dear  Christian  Friends  : 
It  gives  me  very  unfeigned  pleasure  to  be  present  on  this 
joyous  occasion,  and  to  mingle  my  congratulations  with 
those  of  the  brethren  who  occupy  this  platform,  con- 
;gratulations  both  for  the  pastor  and  for  the  church  ;  for 
I  take  it  that  the  occasion  would  not  be  complete  if 
these  twofold  congratulations  w^ere  not  made.  While 
we  are  met  to  do  honor  to  this  pastor,  we  are  not  to  fail 
^Iso  to  remember  this  church;  for  what  would  have  been 
the  pastorate  of  the  best  man  or  the  most  gifted  man 
who  could  have  filled  this  pulpit,  without  the  loving  and 
loyal  co-operation  of  the  people  whom  it  has  been  his 
privilege  to  serve  ?  Let  us  never  forget  that  unless 
Aaron  and  Hur  hold  up  the  hands  of  Moses,  the  battle 
will  not  go  well  on  the  plain  ;  and  let  us  not  fail  to  keep 
in  mind  the  fact  that  while  the  name  of  the  honored 
leader,  because  he  is  conspicuous,  is  known  of  all  men, 
and  is  praised  as  widely  as  it  is  known,  yet  there  are 
many  who  have  not  been  mentioned  outside  these  walls, 
but  whose  record  is  on  high,  and  to  whose  prayers  and 
love  and  zeal  the  great  success  of  the  past  twenty  years  is 
in  no  small  measure  due.  Therefore,  I  repeat,  that  the 
congratulations  which  I  come  to  offer  are  to  be  shared 
by  the  church  and  the  pastor  alike. 

I  come  as  an  Episcopalian  to  a  gathering,  not  only  of 
Presbyterians,  but  of  representative  Christian  people  of 


28 

this  city,  to  be  one  of  the  guests  at  a  festival  which  I 
suppose,  had  it  occurred  in  other  years,  might  not  have 
called  together  such  a  gathering  as  this,  either  in  the 
pulpit  or  in  the  pews.  Twenty  years  ago,  or  more,  sir, 
controversies  were  rife  between  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  the  church  of  which  I  am  a  minister,  and  I  remem- 
ber to  have  read  some  very  formidable  discussions  be- 
tween Presbyterianism  and  Episcopacy.  I  very  much 
doubt  if  two  distinguished  ministers,  representing  the 
two  bodies,  could  find  a  hearing  now  were  they  to  at- 
tempt to  discuss  the  points  at  issue  between  the  two 
churches.  The  day  for  such  discussions  seems  to  have 
gone  by  ;  not,  I  suppose,  that  we  are  indifferent  to  the 
truth  which  we  believe  we  stand  for — and  if  we  do  not 
believe  we  stand  for  some  truth,  shame  on  us  !  But  we 
have  learned  ''  to  live  and  let  live."  I  have  no  apology 
to  make  for  being  an  Episcopalian.  I  don't  ask  any- 
body's leave  or  permission  to  be  one  ;  I  don't  conceal 
the  fact  that  I  am  one,  but  I  do  bless  God  that  over 
and  above  that  denominational  title,  I  hold  always  the 
larger  and  the  grander  title  of  a  Christian  ;  yes.  Chris- 
tian first,  and  churchman  next  !  Christ  first  and  denom- 
ination second. 

So  I  take  it  we  meet  to-night. 

Things,  sir,  are  becoming  strangely  mixed.  I  suppose 
nobody  will  question  the  staunch  Presbyterianism  of 
Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  and  yet  would  you  believe  it  — I 
don't  know  that  I  ought  to  tell  this  now,  perhaps  I  am 
letting  out  a  secret  ;  yet  the  temptation  is  too  strong 
to  be  resisted,  and  if  anybody  is  blameworthy,  let  the 
fault  be  placed  on  his  own  shoulders,  for  he  told  me  the 
story  himself  some  time  ago. 


29 

A  good  Episcopalian  woman  living  in  Florida  was 
very  much  interested  in  behalf  of  a  poor  struggling 
church  belonging  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  commun- 
ion ;  she  wrote  a  letter  to  Dr.  Crosby  asking  for  a  con- 
tribution to  the  feeble  church,  and  said,  amoncc  other 
things,  "  Knowing  that  you  are  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial ministers  of  ^;/r  church,  I  make  free  to  appeal  to 
you." 

Now,  I  say,  that  when  such  a  state  of  things  has  come 
to  pass,  that  in  these  days  Dr.  Crosby  is  recognized  in 
Florida  by  a  good  Episcopalian,  as  a  well-known  and 
influential  minister  of  that  church,  there  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  meet  and  mingle  here  to-night  our 
congratulations.  My  dear  friends,  I  think  it  is  quite 
time  for  us  all  to  learn  the  lesson  that  it  is  a  proper 
thing  to  do  honor  to  the  living  zvho  deserve  to  be  honored. 
I  can  appreciate  the  feelings  of  my  dear  brother,  when 
he  so  earnestly  besought  us  before  we  came  in  here 
to  spare  him.  We  all  know  that  his  modesty  is  only 
equalled  by  his  merit.  And  we  can  all  understand  some- 
what the  embarrassing  position  in  which  he  finds  him- 
self this  evening;  but  why  should  we  withhold  our  meed 
of  praise  from  the  true  and  the  good  until  their  heads 
lie  beneath  the  sod  ?  llow  often  it  is  that  men  fail 
in  life  to  get  the  recognition  that  is  due  them.  How 
often  it  is  that  those  who  ought  to  give  them  their 
encouragement  and  their  sympathy  and  their  support, 
from  the  fear  that  they  may  spoil  them,  keep  it  all  back  ! 
Their  enemies  are  not  so  considerate,  oftentimes  filling 
the  air  with  maledictions,  but  not  until  the  good  man's 
lips  and  ears  are  closed,  do  we  wake  up  to  the  fact  that 


30 

we  have  had  a  great  and  good  man  among  us  !  I  take 
it  there  is  no  impropriety  in  giving  to  the  living  the 
praise  which  they  deserve ;  and  therefore  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  words  which  have  already  been  spoken,  and 
which  may  be  spoken  to-night  in  praise  of  the  pastor  of 
this  church,  are  not  improperly  uttered.  Let  them  be 
said  now,  rather  than  wait  until  he  is  dead.  He  is  not 
in  any  danger  of  being  spoiled  by  praise,  so  my  brother 
who  has  just  preceded  me  has  reminded  you  ;  and  if 
there  be  people  in  this  city  and  in  this  country  who 
hate  Dr.  Crosby  because  he  hates  the  devil,  and  all  for 
whom  the  devil  stands,  let  us,  who  believe  in  God,  and 
in  righteousness,  and  in  him  who  works  zealously  for 
God,  and  for  what  he  believes  to  belong  to  God,  be 
ready  to  stand  by  him,  shake  him  by  the  hand  and  say, 
**  God  bless  you  !  be  of  good  cheer,  brother,  we  love 
you,  and  we  believe  in  you.  Go  on  in  your  good  way, 
and  be  even  more  successful  in  the  future  than  in  the 
past."  I  think  we  have  in  the  ministry  that  we  are  met 
to  honor  to-night  an  illustration  of  one  truth,  and  that 
is,  the  supreme  power  of  character.  My  dear  friends,  the 
world  wants  true  men,  honest  men,  men  of  positive  con- 
victions, men  who  have  the  courage  of  their  convictions  ; 
and  whatever  other  gifts  a  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  may  possess,  in  the  long  run  his  power  will  be  in 
exact  proportion  to  his  character.  That  is  the  mightiest 
force  for  good  after  all,  a  force  which  tells  as  nothing 
else  will  tell  ;  no  eloquence,  no  learning,  no  zeal,  can 
take  the  place  of  real,  downright,  thorough-going,  in- 
grained integrity.  We  want  it  in  the  pulpit,  we  want  it 
in  the  pews,  and  the  men  who  are  to  mould  this  worlds 


31 

the  men  who  are  to  turn  about  the  current  that  is  sweep- 
ing hellward,  and  send  it  Godward,  are  men  without 
blemish  and  above  suspicion,  and,  I  take  it,  such  a  man 
is  he  whom  we  to-night  are  met  to  greet,  and  to  whom 
we  extend  our  brotherly  congratulations. 

There  is  one  other  thing  about  this  pastorate  and  this 
church  which  commands  my  admiration  and  respect. 
They  stand  for  the  old  faith  ;  and  in  this  day  of  uncer- 
tainty and  unsettlement,  when  the  men  who  are  preach- 
ing seem  not  to  know  just  what  they  are  to  preach,  and 
when  the  churches  seem  to  have  forgotten  their  mission, 
it  is  a  great  thing  for  the  pulpit  to  give  no  uncertain 
sound,  for  the  trumpet  to  speak  its  message  so  that  all 
can  understand,  and  I  thank  God  that  there  is  one  pul- 
pit in  this  city  whose  utterances  are  never  uncertain  as 
to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Yes,  in  a  time, 
I  say,  of  unsettlement  and  uncertainty,  in  a  time  of  giv- 
ing up  and  tearing  down,  a  time  of  compromise  and  sur- 
render, let  us  be  thankful  for  a  church  and  a  minister 
who  stand  by  the  old  truth.  There  is  no  new  truth  in 
religion,  my  friends.  Truth  that  claims  to  be  new  is  apt 
to  be  false. 

My  ten  minutes  have  expired.  If  any  of  you  suppose 
it  is  easy  to  make  a  speech  on  a  subject  so  full  and  so 
suggestive  in  ten  minutes,  I  should  like  very  much  to 
have  you  try  it.  In  conclusion,  I  want,  on  my  own  be- 
half and  on  behalf  of  my  congregation,  to  extend  our 
heartiest  good  wishes  to  this  pastor  and  to  this  church, 
and  I  pray  that  God's  best  blessings  may  rest  upon 
them  both  in  the  future,  in  even  richer  measure  than  in 
the  past. 


ADDRESS 

BY    THE    REV.    WILLIAM    M.    TAYLOR,    D.D.,     OF    THE 
CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 


DR.   TAYLOR'S   ADDRESS. 

My  Christian  brethren,  I  cordially  thank  you  for  the 
invitation  which  you  have  given  me  to  be  present,  and 
take  part  in  the  services  connected  with  this  celebration. 
I  would  have  come  whether  you  had  asked  me  or  not. 
I  would  go  a  long  way  to  do  honor  to  so  noble  a  friend 
and  so  beloved  a  brother  as  Dr.  Crosby.  It  has  been  my 
happiness  to  labor  with  him,  side  by  side,  in  this  city,  for 
eleven  years,  and  all  those  years  he  has  grown  in  my 
esteem  and  in  my  affection.  I  have  not  always  agreed 
with  him,  but  I  have  always  loved  him,  and  I  have  often 
been  proud  of  him.  I  was,  I  think,  most  of  all,  proud  of 
him  in  1877,  when  I  heard  him  read  that  magnificent 
paper  of  his  on  the  Christian  ministry,  to  the  first 
great  meeting  of  the  Presbyterian  Council.  There  were 
two  papers,  which,  by  common  confession,  indicated  the 
high-water  mark  of  that  council ;  the  one  was  the  paper 
on  Apologetics,  by  Dr.  Patton,  now  of  Princeton  ;  the 
other  was  a  paper  on  the  Christian  Ministry,  by  Dr.  Cros- 
by, of  this  church.  It  was  with  a  glow  of  honest  pride 
that  I  heard,  in  the  capital  of  my  native  land,  the  emi- 
nence of  that  paper  recognized  on  every  hand  ;  and  as  I 
look  around  me  to-night  upon  the  people  of  his  charge,, 
and  upon  the  Christian  brethren  by  whom  he  is  sur- 
rounded, I  see  the  reason  of  the  excellence  of  that  paper. 
It  was  autobiographical  in  its  character,  and  he  was  lay- 
ing bare  the  roots  of  his  own  ministerial  success. 


36 

Two  qualities  have  always  seemed  to  me  to  stand  very 
distinctly  out  in  Dr.  Crosby's  character,  both  of  them 
noble.  The  first  is  his  transparent  honesty.  He  always 
says  what  he  means,  and  he  always  means  what  he  says ; 
no  duplicity  about  him.  The  next  is  his  unflinching 
courage.  Whatever  he  is  convinced  to  be  right,  that  he 
will  go  and  do ;  if  his  intellect  is  convinced  of  the  correct- 
ness of  a  course,  his  conscience  will  hold  him  to  that 
course.  What  a  splendid  soldier  he  would  make !  and 
what  a  magnificent  soldier  he  has  made,  under  the  ban- 
ner of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ !  He  never  quails  before 
anybody.  He  seems  to  me  as  he  walks  along  the  street 
to  be  a  kind  of  incarnation,  may  I  say,  of  the  lines  of 
Faber : 

"  Right  is  right,  since  God  is  God, 
And  Right  the  day  must  win. 
To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin." 

His  loyalty  to  Christ  has  given  him  his  courage  and 
his  honesty.  He  has  both  of  these,  because  he  is  a 
Christian. 

But  it  is  not  the  man,  nor  the  scholar,  nor  the  citizen 
that  we  have  come  here  to-night  to  honor,  so  much  as 
the  pastor.  All  these  other  things  are  great ;  so  great 
that  each  might  well  have  been  the  sole  object  of  his  at- 
tention ;  but  they  have  been  only  the  accessories  of  his 
life.  After  all,  his  pastorate  has  been  the  great  thing, 
and  ye  are  his  epistles,  written,  as  he  would  say  him- 
self to-night,  ''in  his  heart";  yes,  but  we  must  add,  we 
who  have  stood  around  him  all  these  years,  "  known  and 
read  of  all  men."     This   has  been  a  long  pastorate — 


37 

twenty  years.  There  are  not  many  pastors  in  the  city 
who  have  been  here  now  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
That  indicates,  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Crosby,  that  among  his 
many  qualities  he  has  ''  the  gift  of  continuance."  He 
didn't  give  you  the  best  first,  and  then  burn  out.  I  think 
it  testifies  to  his  excellence  as  a  pastor  that  he  has  been 
here  in  the  blaze  of  this  city  for  twenty  years,  and  is, 
to-day,  more  thought  of  by  you  than  ever.  Why?  Be- 
cause he  has  kept  at  the  preaching  of  this  book ;  he  has 
taken  his  texts  from  the  Word  of  God  ;  he  has  kept  on 
as  an  expositor,  going  through  it,  and  so  he  has  not  ex- 
hausted himself,  because  he  can  not  exhaust  the  book. 
Many  preachers  take  themes  from  everywhere  else  than 
from  the  Scriptures.  The  fool's  eyes  are  in  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  and  so  it  seems  to  me  to  be  with  some  of  the 
preachers ;  but  when  a  man  takes  to  expounding  this 
truth  he  can  say  not  only  teneo,  I  hold  it,  but  teneor,  I  am 
held  by  it.  And  I  think  one  of  the  reasons  of  the  short 
pastorates  which  we  hear  so  many  complaints  about,  all 
over  the  country,  is,  that  men  have  taken  to  preaching 
out  of  other  books,  from  the  newspapers  sometimes, 
rather  than  from  the  Word  of  God ;  and  that  the  work 
of  exposition  has  gone  out  of  fashion.  It  is  coming  back 
again  ;  I  think  that  is  due  to  our  Sunday-school  studies  ; 
but  when  it  comes  in  real  power,  we  shall  have  the  old 
long  pastorates  back  along  with  it. 

This  has  been  a  prosperous  pastorate.  We  have  had 
the  statistics ;  I  have  forgotten  the  figures,  but  at  the 
moment  I  thought  they  were  very  remarkable;  1,975,  I 
think,  added  in  the  twenty  years,  and  of  these,  1,095  on 
confession  of  faith.     Now,  all  that  seems  to  indicate  to 


38 

me  that  the  church  has  been  both  aggressive  and  educa- 
tional ;  and  here,  I  think,  you  share  the  credit  with  your 
pastor.  Sometimes  it  is  said  that  the  prosperity  of  a 
church  is  all  owing  to  the  minister.  I  think  that  is  often 
just  as  wrong  as  it  is  to  say  that  the  failure  of  a  church 
is  all  owing  to  the  minister.  I  think  the  congregation 
has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it.  The  kind  of  men  by  whom 
one  is  surrounded  and  the  kind  of  work  which  they  do, 
has  often  as  much  to  do  with  it  as  the  labor  of  the  pul- 
pit. It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  been  responsive  to 
my  friend's  exhortations,  and  especially  have  you  been 
careful  to  carry  on  abreast  of  each  other  those  two  activi- 
ties, the  educational  and  the  aggressive.  The  church 
exists  for  mutual  edification,  and  also  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world,  and  true 
prosperity  in  the  church  can  only  be  secured  by  carrying 
these  things  abreast.  Now,  one  of  the  greatest  factors 
in  the  prosperity  of  this  church  has  been  your  mission- 
ary aggressiveness,  in  connection  with  those  two  chapels 
carried  on  by  you,  side  by  side  with  the  pulpit  educa- 
tional influence  exerted  by  my  friend  and  brother.  These 
two  things  ought  always  to  go  together,  and  only  when 
they  do  go  together  can  you  have  prosperity  and  peace. 
If  the  aggressive  should  usurp  the  whole  attention,  then 
there  will  be  extravagance  and  emotion.  If  the  educa- 
tional should  usurp  the  whole  attention,  then  the  intel- 
lect will  run  to  seed,  and  may  run  away  after  false  doc- 
trines, and,  perhaps,  unbelief  altogether.  The  Salva- 
tion Army,  with  its  irreverent  speech  and  questiona- 
ble methods,  v/ill  illustrate  the  danger  of  becoming 
simply  and  only  aggressive.     The  Unitarian  defection, 


39 

developing  into  the  disintegration  of  the  followers  of 
Parker  and  Frothingham,  may  illustrate  the  danger  of 
becoming  purely  educational  in  our  church  life;  but 
when  we  carry  them  both  along  abreast,  then  we  are  safe. 
If  you  are  in  a  boat  and  try  to  move  yourself  with  one 
oar,  you  simply  go  round  and  round  ;  but  if  you  take 
both  oars  you  go  steadily  on.  Just  so  this  church  has 
had  the  educational  oar  and  the  aggressive  oar,  and  you 
have  gone  on  for  twenty  years.  My  advice  to  you  now 
is  to  keep  on  ;  keep  both  oars  steadily  at  work,  labor  on 
faithfully  and  well,  and  may  God  spare  you  and  your 
pastor  to  each  other,  so  that  you  may  have,  if  He  please, 
a  fortieth  year  of  anniversary,  and  may  have  to  tell  of 
grander  and  greater  results  than  those  spoken  of  here  to- 
night. 

My  ten  minutes  are  up,  but  I  would  like  to  say  one 
word  more.  There  is  a  great  responsibility  attached  to 
the  having  of  such  a  ministry.  Suppose  a  young  man  of 
your  acquaintance  is  about  to  become  a  minister  and 
begins  to  talk  to  you  on  the  subject.  You  say  to  him, 
^'  Yes,  but  have  you  ever  thought  that  it  is  an  awful 
thing  to  be  a  minister?  "  That  is  true,  but  a  great  many 
people  have  never  paused  to  look  at  the  fact  on  the 
other  side,  that  it  is  an  awful  thing  to  have  a  minister. 
It  is  a  great  privilege,  but  yet  an  awful  thing  to  have 
such  a  faithful  ministry  as  I  know  this  has  been.  ''  We 
are  unto  God  a  sweet  savor  in  them  that  believe,  and  in 
them  that  perish.  To  the  one  we  are  the  savor  of  death 
unto  death,  and  to  the  other  the  savor  of  life  unto  life. 
And  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  " 


AD  DRESS 

BY    THE   REV.   ROBERT    S.   MACARTHUR,  D.D.,  OF   THE 
BAPTIST   CHURCH. 


DR.  MACARTHUR'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  good  friends  :  By  no  special 
appointment  of  my  particular  church,  by  no  special  ap- 
pointment of  the  denomination  to  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  belong,  am  I  here  to-night  to  represent  either 
on  this  joyous  occasion.  I  am  well  assured,  however,  that 
I  do  not  misrepresent  either  the  church  or  the  denomina- 
tion,when  I  say  that  I  am  honored  in  coming  to  give  honor 
to  the  pastor  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 
I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  that  Episcopal  lady  in 
Florida,  of  whom  we  a  little  while  ago  heard,  should 
write  to  Dr.  Crosby,  and  ask  a  collection  for  the  benefit 
of  the  church  to  which  she  belonged.  Dr.  Crosby  be- 
longs to  everything  that  is  good  everywhere. 

Some  time  ago  a  friend  of  mine  was  in  Scotland,  and 
he  desired  to  call  upon  a  minister  in  the  town,  and, 
while  he  was  being  driven  from  the  railway  station  to 
the  house,  he  asked  the  driver  if  he  knew  this  man. 
*'  Oh,  yes,"  he  said  ;  "  I  know  him  very  well."  '*  Well, 
what  kind  of  a  man  is  he?"  He  replied,  "  He  is  every- 
body's body."  Well,  I  thought  of  that  remark  when 
Dr.  Watkins  was  telling  us  of  the  lady  to  whom  he  re- 
ferred— Dr.  Crosby  is  everybody's  body. 

It  will  be  thirteen  years  in  May  since  I  saw  him  and 
heard  him  for  the  first  time.  You  know  that  Dr.  Cros- 
by told  us  before  we  came  down  that  we  were  not  to 
allude    to    him,   and,  inasmuch   as    none   of   the    other 


44 

speakers  have  made  any  such  allusion,  I  feel  it  some- 
what incumbent  upon  me  to  do  it,  and  therefore  I  shall 
not  be  misunderstood,  even  by  him,  in  any  personal  ref- 
erence that  I  shall  make.  At  that  time  I  saw  him  and 
heard  him  for  the  first  time.  He  delivered  the  address 
before  the  students  of  the  Rochester  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  the  time  of  my  graduation.  The  address  occa- 
sioned some  discussion.  In  fact,  Dr.  Crosby  has  a  habit 
of  stirring  the  waters  every  time  he  puts  the  paddle  in  ; 
and  he  stirred  the  waters  quite  a  little  by  the  address  to 
which  I  have  referred.  I  met  him,  as  I  say,  for  the  first 
time,  and  I  shall  never  forget — and  I  am  glad  to  have 
this  opportunity  to-night  of  referring  to  it  in  this  public 
way — I  shall  never  forget  the  cordial  words  which  Dr. 
Crosby  spoke  to  me  then.  He  had  learned  that  I  had 
received  a  call  a  little  time  before  to  this  city,  and  he 
was  the  first  man  that  gave  me  a  welcome  to  New  York, 
and  that  welcome  he  has  continued  to  give.  And  one 
thing  further.  Dr.  Crosby  gave  me  the  thought  which 
has  been  the  dominant  one  in  my  ministry  in  this  city 
since  the  15th  of  May,  1870,  when  I  began  my  Vv-ork 
here. 

And  that  leads  me  to  mention  the^first  characteristic, 
as  I  think  of  it,  of  this  pastorate.  This  pastorate  is  an 
emphatic  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  so-called  ordi- 
nary means  of  grace.  Many  of  us  have  almost  lost  faith 
in  the  ordinary  means  of  grace.  When  we  think  of 
great  aggressive  work  for  God,  we  think  it  necessary  to 
have  a  hippodrome  ;  we  think  it  necessary  to  have  an 
evangelist  to  have  special  services  ;  but  this  pastorate 
of  twenty  years  has  honored  God  in  the  ordinary  means 


45 

of  God's  house,  and,  if  I  have  understood  the  figures 
aright,  there  has  been  about  one  person  brought  into 
this  church  every  week  on  a  profession  of  faith  during 
these  twenty  years.  God's  word  has  been  honored,  and 
God  has  honored  the  faith  of  His  servants.  I  think  this 
is  a  matter  of  great  importance  just  at  this  time.  I  set 
myself  squarely  against  the  setting  apart  certain  periods 
of  the  year  for  certain  special  services  in  God's  house. 
Our  work  is  to  be  always  and  everywhere  for  God  in  the 
salvation  of  souls.  I  know  that  what  we  call  a  revival 
of  religion,  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  term,  has 
brought  large  numbers  of  men  and  women  into  the 
church.  I  think,  however,  that  a  revival  presupposes 
two  things  :  first,  some  degree  of  spiritual  life  in  the 
church,  and  secondly,  a  vast  amount  of  spiritual  death. 
Some  of  you  heard  me  say  yesterday  that  when  such  a 
condition  as  that  exists  it  is  well  to  have  a  revival. 
Why,  yes,  give  a  patient  quinine !  give  him  brandy ! 
give  him  anything,  rather  than  that  he  should  sink  into 
coma  and  death !  But  the  sad  thing  is  that  the  patient 
should  ever  get  so  low.  Quinine  is  better  than  chills, 
but  health  is  better  than  either;  and  a  healthy  condition 
of  the  church  is  what  we  desire,  and  I  am  sure  that  these 
twenty  years  have  shown  a  healthy,'  vigorous,  joyous 
life ;  and  this  church  has  brought  forth  fruit  every  year 
and  every  month  and  every  week. 

Now,  I  find  that  this  pastorate  is  also  a  testimony  to 
the  popularity  and  power  of  Scripture  exposition.  Dr. 
Taylor  has  touched  upon  this  thought.  I  must,  how- 
ever, allude  to  it  briefly  again.  I  beg  you  to  observe 
that  I  have  said  popularity.     The  most  popular  book  in 


46 

the  world  to-day  is  the  Bible.     Even   Dr.  Crosby,  with- 
his  vast  and  varied  erudition,  could  not   have  drawn  a. 
congregation  in  this  house  for  twenty  years,  expounding 
any  other  book   than   the   Bible.      No,   sir ;    the   effort 
would  have  exhausted  both   Dr.  Crosby  and  the  book,, 
even  though  its  author  were   Shakespeare.     The  most 
popular  book  in  the  world  to-day  is  the  Book  of  God» 
A   man  who   sends    the    plummet  of   his    investigation 
down  deep  into  that   Book  will  never  send  it  down  in 
vain.     This  Book  will  ever  be  new  ;  ever  be  fresh ;  ever 
be  glorious,  like  its  divine  Author.     I  tell  you  that  the 
men  to-day  in  this  city  who  are  to  stand  up  as  kings  be- 
fore their   fellow-men  are  the  men  who  draw  their  in- 
spiration from  the  Word  of  God.     The  men  who  are  to 
stand  in  the   future  are  the  men  who  are  loyal  to  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ.     We  are  not  here  to  apol- 
ogize for  God ;  we  are   not   here  to  apologize  for  the 
Word   of   God  ;  we  are   here  to  declare  this  Book,  and 
God  will  take  care  of  His  truth.     I  do  not  think  we  are 
called  upon  often — certainly  I  do  not  feel  called  upon — 
to  attack  all   forms  of  error  directly  in  the  pulpit.     I 
think  we  often  dignify  an  otherwise  unseen  and  despica- 
ble foe  when  we  attack  him  in  the  pulpit.     Some  men 
are  just   like  the  horse  described  in    the    Bible ;    they 
"  smell  the  battle   from  afar,"  and  are  ready  to  rush  to 
the  defense  of  God's  truth  m  opposition  to  some  popu- 
lar error.     I   would   not  attack    error    often.       I    don't 
think  the  pulpit   is  the  place  to    advertise   the   devil's 
nostrums.     I  never  would  strike  him  unless  I  was  sure 
that  I  could  give  him  a  deadly  wound.     I  think  error  is 
inherently  weak.     The  best  way  to  preach  down  error 


47 

is  to  preach  up  truth.     Error  will  tremble  and   totter 
and  tumble  by  its  own  inherent  weakness. 

This  pastorate,  therefore,  has  been  a  testimony  all 
through  these  years  to  the  popularity  and  power  of 
Scripture  exposition.  It  has  also  been  a  testimony  dur- 
ing these  years  to  the  fact  that  the  highest  scholarship 
is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  most  simple  evangelical 
faith.  There  ought  not  to  be,  there  can  not  be  any  con- 
tradiction between  the  two.  It  is  absolutely  impossible 
that  God  can  contradict  HimiSelf.  The  God  of  Genesis, 
the  God  of  geology,  the  God  of  science,  and  the  God 
of  Revelation  is  one  God.  Why,  friends,  if  we  can  in- 
terpret God's  thoughts  as  written  on  the  ledges  of  the 
rocks,  and  God's  thoughts  as  written  on  the  pages  of 
His  Book,  they  must  harmonize.  God  is  one  God  and 
can't  contradict  Himself.  The  teachings  of  science, 
so  called,  may  contradict  certain  interpretations  of  the 
words  of  God ;  but  when  we  get  at  God's  thought, 
whether  in  science  or  revelation,  that  thought  must  be 
consistent  with  itself.  I  believe  in  God's  Word ;  I 
glory  in  it ;  in  every  drop  of  my  blood  I  believe  in  this 
blessed  Book,  and  in  the  victory  which  it  is  sure  to  win  ; 
and  I  know  if  we  take  our  place  beneath  the  cross  of 
the  crucified  Christ,  we  shall  find  that  an  uplifted  Christ 
is  the  mightiest  magnet  to  draw  the  hearts  of  men. 
With  undaunted  heart  I  stand  here  to-night  beneath  the 
cross  of  Christ,  that  for  twenty  years,  with  warm  heart 
and  loving  hand.  Dr.  Crosby  has  uplifted  in  this  place. 
In  him  the  highest  scholarship  in  the  American  pulpit 
finds  its  noblest  exercise  in  sitting  at  the  feet  of  the 
great  Teacher,  and  there  in  giving  to  others  the  truths 
there  learned. 


48 

I  would  like  to  say  more,  but  my  time  is  up.  I  am 
full  of  gratitude  to  God  for  so  noble  a  man.  He  does 
us  all  good.  I  never  meet  him  but  I  am  the  better  for 
it.  I  hope  God  will  spare  him  to  celebrate  the  fortieth 
and  the  fiftieth  anniversary,  and  I  hope  I  may  then  have 
the  opportunity  to  give  him  my  humble  and  hearty 
meed  of  praise. 


ADD  R  ESS 

BY    THE    REV.    WILLIAM    ORMISTON,    D.D.,    OF     THE 
REFORMED  DUTCH    CHURCH. 


DR.  ORMISTON'S  ADDRESS. 

I  KNOW  well  how  to  appreciate  the  paternal  benignity 
of  the  dear  father  who  has  introduced  me.  None  know 
better  than  he,  that  I  belong  to  a  nation  which  is  pro- 
verbially blate — that  is  diffident — and  that  personally  I 
am  known  to  be  sluggish  of  thought,  slow  of  speech, 
and  am  greatly  embarrassed  by  a  large  audience,  spec- 
ially such  a  magnificent  and  inspiring  an  assembly  as 
this. 

I  owe  it  entirely  to  an  event  which  I  regret,  the  ab- 
sence of  my  colleague,  Dr.  Chambers,  that  I  have  been 
called  to  this  platform  at  all.  I  regret  the  cause,  yet 
rejoice  in  the  privilege.  No  man  in  this  vast  congrega- 
tion, or  in  this  great  city,  could  stand  here  with  more 
hearty  good-will  than  I  now  do,  to  pay  a  cordial  tribute 
of  love  and  respect  to  our  noble-hearted  brother,  the 
pastor  of  this  congregation.  I  highly  esteem  him  for 
all  his  lofty  intellectual  and  moral  endowments,  for  his 
varied  and  extensive  attainments,  for  his  wide  and  emi- 
nent usefulness,  and  for  his  high  purpose  and  thorough 
consecration  as  a  servant  of  God  and  the  friend  of  man. 
But  as  he  is  present,  I  would  not  wound  afresh  his  mod- 
esty by  saying  one-half  I  think  in  his  praise.  If  you 
will  only  recall  one-half  that  has  been  said  to-night  of 
his  vast  erudition,  extensive  and  accurate  scholarship, 
and  rare  powers  of  vigorous  expression  ;  of  his  ardent 
zeal,  his   dauntless   courage,  his  firm    unflinching  adhe- 


52 

sion  to  the  right,  and  his  indomitable  perseverance  un- 
dismayed by  any  obstacles  however  seemingly  insur- 
mountable ; — if  you  will  conceive  of  him  as  he  is,  with 
his  well-knit  frame,  his  great  broad  brain,  his  tireless 
energy,  all  consecrated  to  one  grand  work — fearless, 
unselfish,  heroic  in  whatever  he  undertakes — the  chan- 
nels of  his  activity  exceedingly  various,  the  motive  and 
the  object  one  ; — if  you  only  think  of  all  these  things, 
you  will  have  a  faint  idea  of  what  in  other  circumstances 
I  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  said. 

Once  I  met  Dr.  Crosby  before  I  became  a  resident  of 
New  York.  When  my  venerated  brother.  Dr.  Hall,  had 
just  come  to  the  city,  there  was  a  meeting  in  a  large 
hall,  gathered,  I  think,  to  give  .  him  and  his  a  welcome. 
The  audience-room  was  large,  and  densely  crowded  with 
a  multitude  of  people,  enjoying  themselves  walking  and 
talking.  The  chairman — the  same  who  presides  with 
such  dignity  over  this  orderly  assembly  to-night,  not  so 
venerable  then  as  now — attempted  more  than  once,  in 
vain,  to  hush  the  joyous  and  tumultuous  company. 
Knowing  that  it  would  require  lungs  of  brass  and  a 
voice  of  thunder  to  enable  a  speaker  to  be  heard,  he 
called  on  Dr.  Crosby.  He  rose,  and  his  voice  ringing 
like  a  bell,  pealed  over  the  din,  and  as  if  by  magic  the 
tumult  was  hushed,  and  the  audience  listened.  It  was 
my  privilege  to  follow  him  that  night,  forming  the  first 
of  many  fellowships  on  the  platform.  Then  commenced 
my  acquaintance  with  one,  with  whom  I  have  had  now 
for  many  years  the  most  kindly,  genial,  loving,  and 
brotherly  intercourse.  He  becomes  dearer  to  me  every 
day,  and  we  are  drawn  more  closely  together  every  time 


53 

we  meet.  Not  even  the  slightest  misunderstanding,  or 
the  faintest  shadow  of  a  doubt,  has  ever  marred  the 
mutual  confidence  of  our  intercourse. 

It  has  been  said  to-night  that  he  sometimes  troubles 
the  waters — a  man  of  such  force  and  individuality  of 
character,  of  such  strong  and  decided  convictions,  must 
necessarily  do  this — and  many  waters  are  all  the  better 
for  being  stirred  ;  many  stagnant  pools  require  the  mov- 
ing of  an  angel  to  educe  their  healing  virtue ;  and  al- 
though when  first  stirred,  the  water  may  seem  drumlie, 
it  soon  settles,  becomes  clear,  and  healthy,  and  drinka- 
ble. 

I  will  ever  retain  a  most  delightsome  reminiscence  of 
ten  days  I  spent  in  his  society,  in  the  land  of  my  birth. 
Dr.  Taylor  eloquently  alluded  to  an  address  of  great 
power,  which  Dr.  Crosby  at  that  time  delivered  before 
the  Presbyterian  Council.  I  also  heard  that  marvellous 
speech,  wonderful  for  its  wealth  of  thought,  its  terse 
and  telling  diction,  and  astounding  velocity  of  utter- 
ance. It  fairly  overwhelmed  our  Scottish  brethren,  and 
took  their  very  breath  away,  and  had  it  lasted  much 
longer  the  results  might  have  been  fatal.  It  swept 
over  that  grand  assembly  like  a  mighty  wind  resistless 
and  effective.  But  while  powerful  as  a  giant,  he  can  be 
playful  as  a  child.  He  accompanied  me  to  the  home  of 
my  boyhood,  Habbie's  Howe, 

"  Where  a'  the  sweets  o'  spring  and  simmer  grow," 

a  scene  of  exquisite  beauty  and  enchanting  loveliness ; 
the  eye  of  man  could  scarcely  rest  on  a  bonnier  land- 
scape,   either   in    Scotland    or   out    of   it.     Here  Allan 


54 

Ramsay  laid  the  scene  of  his  ''  Gentle  Shepherd  " — the 
only  genuine  pastoral  in  the  English  language — and 
that  is  written  in  the  Scotch  dialect.  The  poet's  fancy 
has  peopled  the  entire  glen  through  which  wimples  the 
burn,  "which  kisses  wi'  easy  swirl  the  bordering  grass,"" 
with  lads  and  lasses  of  other  days,  whose  mutual  loves 
and  confidences  awaken  pleasing  memories  in  all  true 
hearts.  When  we  visited  the  enchanted  spot,  the  air 
was  moist — I  will  confess,  exceedingly  moist — but  it 
had  no  effect  in  quenching  his  enthusiasm,  or  arresting 
the  flow  of  his  fancy,  the  play  of  his  humor,  or  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  memory  in  recalling  a  world  of  beautiful 
things.  Next  to  the  pleasure  of  looking  on  the  well- 
known,  dearly-loved  scene  itself,  was  the  delight  of 
seeing  it  in  company  of  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Crosby.  He 
would  have  made  a  most  poetic  and  patriotic  Scotch- 
man. We  gazed  together  upon  the  very  home,  then 
vacant,  and  walked  over  the  field,  where  as  a  merry,  mis- 
chievous, bird-nesting  boy,  I  spent  the  years  of  a  happy, 
mother-blessed  childhood.  All  the  hallowed  associa- 
tions of  that  place  and  time  are  linked  with  him  who 
was  my  companion  that  day,  and  have  enshrined  him  in 
my  heart  of  hearts,  amid  its  holiest  treasures,  whence 
no  power  can  ever  remove  him.  Out  of  my  heart, 
brother,  you  can  not  go.     You  are  there  for  aye  ! 

I  shall  now  conclude  by  saying  what  my  colleague,  had 
he  been  here,  would  have  said,  perhaps  with  more  pro- 
priety, that  the  venerable  Dutch  Church,  and  especially 
the  Collegiate  Church,  of  which  I  am  a  pastor,  presents 
through  me  the  expression  of  her  kindliest  regard,  and 
her  maternal  affection  for  one  of  her  own  sons,  who,  if 


55 

I  may  be  allowed  to  say  it,  should  have  been  under  the 
old  rooftree  still.  It  was  for  us,  a  great  pity  that  he 
left ;  but  for  you,  a  great  blessing  and  a  lasting  boon. 
Whether  he  would  have  found  an  equally  wide  field  of 
usefulness  with  us  I  do  not  know,  but  it  will  always  be 
to  me  a  kind  of  regret,  that  when  he  left  the  College 
at  New  Brunswick  he  had  not  come  to  the  Collegiate 
Church.  It  were  an  honor  to  any  man  to  become  his 
colleague.  I  am  right  glad,  however,  to  perceive  that 
this  people  who  have  long  enjoyed  his  services,  so  heart- 
ily appreciate  their  privilege,  and  so  highly  estimate  his 
worth.  It  speaks  well  for  them.  May  they  long  look 
on  him  as  their  teacher  and  leader.  As  a  neighbor  min- 
ister of  a  church  which  can  scarcely  be  distinguished 
from  the  one  I  serve — the  only  difference  between  the 
Reformed  and  the  Presbyterian  being,  that  the  former 
is  the  most  Presbyterian  of  the  two — I  feel  that  though 
not  a  colleague  in  the  technical  sense,  he  is  a  fellow- 
laborer,  a  brother  greatly  beloved. 

The  past  twenty  years  in  the  history  of  this  congrega- 
tion has  been  marked  by  unanimity,  activity,  and  pros- 
perity. May  the  achievements  of  the  present  prove  but 
the  earnest  of  the  future,  the  pledge  of  greater  things 
to  come. 

May  your  pastor  go  in  and  out  among  you  for  the 
next  twenty  years  as  he  has  in  the  past,  with  even  more 
abundant  favor  and  success.  We  know  that  his  scholar- 
ship will  become  richer,  his  experience  deeper,  his  spirit- 
ual perceptions  clearer,  and  he  will  bring  still  more  than 
ever  out  of  the  treasure  of  the  Word  things  new  and  old. 
The  next  five  years  of  his  pastorate,  if  he  is  spared,  will 


56 

be  richer  in  spiritual  productiveness,  and  better  for  the 
edification  of  the  people  of  his  charge,  than  any  preced- 
ing ten.  How  fresh  and  abundant  the  manna  which  he 
is  now  fitted  to  supply.  His  last  work  will  prove  his 
best. 

As  a  man,  a  citizen,  a  patriot,  a  philanthropist,  a  schol- 
ar, a  preacher,  a  pastor,  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  a  brother,  I  honor  him.  The  church  to  which  I 
belong  renders  him  her  due  meed  of  praise.  Long  may 
he  live,  even  forever ;  as  long  on  earth  as  God  can  spare 
him  from  Heaven,  and  then  eternally  there. 


AD  DRESS 

BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  HALL,  D.D.,  OF  THE   PRESBYTERL^N 
CHURCH. 


DR.    HALL'S   ADDRESS. 

Dear  Christian  Friends  :  I  have  had  rather  a  curi- 
ous personal  experience  in  this  matter.  Some  two  weeks 
ago  my  attention  was  called  in  the  morning  of  the  day,  to 
the  circumstance  that  my  brother  had  so  long  been  the 
minister  in  this  place,  and  I  was  in  my  study  thinking 
of  the  matter,  and  saying  to  myself  that  it  ought  not  to 
pass  without  some  public  notice  ;  and  then  I  began  to 
cast  over  in  my  mind  what  one  of  this  congregation  I 
knew  to  whom  I  could  venture  to  make  a  suggestion  on 
the  subject,  and  I  thought  of  Mr.  Lee,  and  was  actually 
about  to  begin  a  note  to  him  on  the  matter,  when  the 
attendant  came  up  to  tell  me  there  was  a  gentleman  be- 
low who  wanted  to  see  me  particularly,  and  I  stepped 
down  and  met  a  gentleman  of  this  congregation  who 
had  come  to  tell  me  that  the  congregation  was  making 
arrangements  for  this  meeting,  and  that  they  had  done 
me  the  honor  to  ask  me  to  come  and  take  some  share 
in  the  proceedings.  I  regard  it  as  a  very  rem.arkable  co- 
incidence, that  while  I  was  crediting  myself  with  some 
degree  of  originality,  my  thoughts  should  haye  been  an- 
ticipated in  this  way  and  at  this  particular  conjuncture. 
Now,  my  dear  friends,  I  have  not  a  speech  to  make  to 
you,  for  this  particular  reason,  that  I  took  the  opportu- 
nity to  deliver  the  substance  of  my  speech  to  the  church 
that  I  serve,  to  my  own  people,  yesterday  afternoon,  and 
Dr.  Crosby  not  being  present,  I   felt  free  to  say  some 


6o 

things  that  perhaps  I  should  not  feel  free  to  say  here.  I 
shall  only  mention  one  or  two  of  the  things  which  I 
think  younger  ministers,  the  students  of  our  seminaries, 
and  brethren  like  the  young  men  who  have  opened  the 
exercises  of  this  meeting,  might  lay  to  heart  with  great 
advantage.  Dr.  Crosby  has  been  a  persistent,  earnest 
student  of  his  Bible.  The  result  is,  his  discourses  have 
continual  freshness.  They  do  not  lose  their  charm  ;  he 
speaks,  but  the  spirit  of  inspiration  speaks  through  him, 
and  the  result  is  there  is  no  monotony,  no  dullness  in 
his  message.  A  minister,  it  seems  to  me,  in  ordinary 
circumstances  ought  to  labor  to  be  a  student  in  the 
original  tongues  in  which  the  Scriptures  are  given  to  us. 
I  think  it  is  a  great  advantage  to  him  to  know  his  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  At  the  same  time,  he  will  not  do  his 
preaching  in  these  tongues  ;  he  will  be  careful  to  speak 
in  English  to  the  people.  I  remember  when  I  was  a 
boy,  in  the  elocution  department  in  the  school,  there 
was  a  piece  the  boys  used  sometimes  to  recite,  in 
which  a  very  learned  and  a  little  pedantic  person  re- 
ceives a  visitor,  and  he  asks  the  visitor  before  the  con- 
versation begins,  whether  he  wishes  to  make  his 
communication  in  the  ancient  or  in  the  modern  lan- 
guages. The  visitor  intimated  that  he  wanted  to 
speak  in  the  modern  languages.  ''Well,  then,"  said 
the  pedantic  gentleman,  ''will  you  please  come  to 
the  other  side  ;  this  is  the  ear  I  keep  for  the  ancient 
languages,  and  this  is  for  the  modern."  Now,  I  think, 
that  a  minister  has  to  speak  in  the  modern  languages,  in 
order  that  the  people  may  be  able  to  understand  him  ; 
but  it  is  a  great  advantage  when  he  is  acquainted  with 


6i 

the  languages  in  which  the  Scriptures  have  been  commu- 
nicated to  men  in  the  beginning.  This  will  contribute 
to  his  effectiveness  in  other  directions  than  in  the  pulpit 
exclusively.  For  the  time  being  I  have  been  selected 
to  occupy  the  place  which,  for  many  useful  years,  Dr. 
Crosby  occupied  as  the  Chancellor  of  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  I  say  I  do  not  succeed  him,  but 
the  attempt  to  be  in  the  place  for  the  time  has  given  to 
me  some  adequate  idea  of  the  enormous  amount  of 
work  that  he  has  been  able  to  do  on  educational  lines, 
at  the  same  time  that  he  has  been  the  diligent  and  suc- 
cessful pastor  of  this  church.  He  is  a  citizen  of  no 
mean  city,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  he  has  not  felt  at 
liberty  to  forget  his  place  as  a  citizen.  The  human  race 
has  sometimes  been  flippantly  distributed  into  three 
classes — men,  women,  and  clergymen.  I  do  not  accept 
the  justice  of  that  classification.  We  ministers  are  men, 
and  we  are  human  through  and  through.  We  are  to  be 
gentle,  but  we  are  to  be  manly  ;  we  are  to  be  fearless 
and  courageous,  but  we  are  to  be  forgiving  and  magnan- 
imous. And  if  any  man  wanted  an  idea  of  just  such  a 
man,  it  seems  to  me  he  might  with  propriety  turn  to 
him  whom  we  may  properly  regard  as  the  guest  of  this 
evening. 

There  is  no  need  to  speak  of  Dr.  Crosby  from  the 
stand-point  of  a  brother  minister.  I  believe  I  have  been 
longer  by  his  side  than  any  brother  who  has  preceded  me 
this  evening.  This  is  the  sixteenth  year  in  which  I  have 
had  the  privilege  of  being  associated  with  him  ;  and 
when  the  church  was  in  19th  Street  we  were  very  much 
nearer  locally,  but  not  so  near  socially  as  we  have  come 


62 


to  be  since  then  ;  and  the  more  I  have  come  to  know  my 
brother,  the  more  profound  my  respect  has  been  for  him  ; 
and  the  more  I  have  seen  the  human  and  the  gentle  and 
the  tender  things  in  him,  the  more  true  and  deep  has 
become  my  affection  for  him. 

The  Church  of  which  he  is  a  minister  has  done  the 
highest  honor  that  it  is  possible  for  her  to  confer  upon 
any  one.  Some  years  ago  he  was  the  Moderator  of  our 
General  Assembly,  and  it  is  the  testimony  of  all,  that 
never  a  better  Moderator  occupied  the  chair ;  and  when 
we  met  the  last  time  in  Synod  we  couldn't  find  any  bet- 
ter person  for  that  duty.  The  General  Assembly  and 
the  Synod  of  which  he  is  a  member,  have  in  the  most 
distinct  way  testified  to  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held, 
and  the  confidence  with  which  he  is  regarded.  As  to 
his  courage  and  fearless  exposure  of  what  is  wrong,  as 
to  his  downright  hatred  of  the  mean  and  treacherous 
and  bad,  it  is  not  necessary  for  any  one  here  to  speak. 
One  of  the  brethren  who  preceded  me  uttered,  I  think, 
some  very  wise  words,  entirely  in  place,  in  relation  to  the 
tone  of  despondency  that  is  sometimes  assumed  by  min- 
isters when  they  are  dealing  with  errors,  and  making  the 
interest  of  a  discourse  turn  upon  the  element  of  assault 
that  is  in  it.  These  words,  it  seems  to  me,  deserve  to 
be  pondered.  Many  ministers,  to  show  how  important 
their  work  is,  and  how  necessary  it  is  that  they  should 
speak  the  words  they  are  going  to  speak,  unconsciously 
magnify  the  danger  and  give  an  impression  of  things  a 
little  exaggerated.  As  if  David  on  that  memorable 
battle-field  where  he  was  so  conspicuous  a  figure,  before 
going  out  to  the  encounter  had  turned  round  and  made 


63 

a  long  speech  to  the  Hebrew  people  upon  the  enormous 
magnitude  of  the  giant  that  was  before  them,  and  the 
tremendous  danger  to  which  the  Israelitish  nation  was 
now  exposed.  He  didn't  do  that.  No,  but  he  took  his 
aim,  and  the  stone  went  forth,  and  the  thing  was  left  to 
speak  for  itself.  And  so  it  seems  to  me  in  some  degree 
we  may  do,  if,  like  my  brother,  we  go  through  this  world 
setting  forth  its  positive  truth,  glancing  at  its  errors  and 
blunders  here  and  there  only  according  to  their  relative 
superiority.  So  we  take  possession  of  the  minds  of  the 
people  with  the  positive  truth,  leaving  but  little  room  in 
which  errors  and  blunders  and  mistakes  can  be  accommo- 
dated. These  are  characteristics,  it  seems  to  me,  of  the 
ministry  that  has  reached  such  an  honorable  stage  ;  and 
I  can  desire  nothing  better  or  greater  for  my  brother 
than  that  for  many  years  to  come  he  may  be  strength- 
ened and  upheld  by  the  Head  of  the  Church  to  persevere 
in  the  same  course. 

And  now  before  I  sit  down,  I  venture  to  speak  a  word 
to  those  who  have  enjoyed  and  now  enjoy  these  Scriptu- 
ral ministrations.  I  know  that  the  word  I  speak  ought 
to  be  spoken  with  great  gentleness  and  with  very  great 
tenderness,  and  in  that  temper  I  try  to  say  it  to  you, 
dear  brethren.  Every  good  quality  of  your  pastor  that 
has  been  emphasized  to-night,  and  other  good  qualities 
that  have  not  been  emphasized — for  none  of  us  can  fol- 
low Dr.  Crosby  into  the  homes  where  his  Christian  sym- 
pathies are  felt  so  keenly — I  say  every  good  quality  in 
this  ministry  enhances  your  responsibility  as  a  people — 
my  friends  and  brethren,  your  responsibility  one  by  one. 
What  have  you  been  doing  under  these  years  of  faithful 


64 

teaching?  Have  you  been  standing  still,  or  growing  in 
grace  ?  taking  in  simply,  and  never  giving  out ;  or  taking 
in,  that  you  may  be  able  in  your  time  to  give  out?  You 
are  to  be  congratulated  that  during  all  these  years  you 
have  not  once  passed  through  the  time  of  distraction 
that  so  frequently  is  experienced  by  congregations  and 
communities  when  they  are  testing  the  relative  merits 
of  candidates,  and  trying  to  make  up  their  minds  about 
one  particular  individual.  I  congratulate  you  upon 
this ;  but  I  would  have  you  bear  in  mind  that  this  again 
is  an  additional  element  in  the  weight  of  responsibility 
that  rests  upon  you.  You  have  received  much  through 
this  ministry.  How  much  are  you  rendering  back  to 
the  King  and  Head  of  the  Church?  And  now,  is  it 
necessary  for  me  to  say  to  you — no  one  has  said  it,  and 
perhaps  I  would  not  venture  to  say  it  if  I  had  not,  I 
think  in  some  degree,  the  feeling  of  a  minister — do  not 
be  afraid  to  give  hearty  appreciation  to  your  pastor. 
Do  not  be  afraid  to  give  him  ample  sympathy ;  do  not 
be  afraid  to  show  your  genuine  affection  for  him,  for 
you  know  he  is  old  enough  now  not  to  be  in  very  great 
danger  of  being  spoiled.  Let  him  know  that  he  is  first 
in  your  hearts,  and  in  all  fitting  and  proper  ways  let  him 
feel  that  a  grateful  people  stand  by  him,  not  indeed  for 
his  own  personal  and  selfish  purpose,  but  for  that  high 
and  unselfish  and  dignified  end  that  is  continually  in  his 
mind  and  on  his  lips— the  best  interests  of  men  and  the 
glory  of  Christ  our  Saviour  and  Lord. 


CONCLUDING    EXERCISE, 


CONCLUDING    EXERCISE. 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Hall's  address,  the  President  said  : 

I  ask  your  attention  to  the  following  invitation  and 
notice  given  by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements : 

The  present  and  former  members  of  the  congregation 
worshipping  in  this  church,  and  also  all  clergymen 
present,  are  cordially  invited  to  pass  into  the  chapel  at 
the  close  of  this  service  to  greet  the  pastor,  and  take 
part  in  a  social  reunion. 

We  will  now  sing  the  doxology  in  long  metre,  and 
after  the  doxology  the  congregation  will  remain  standing, 
and  Dr.  Crosby  will  say  a  few  words,  and  will  close  with 
the  benediction. 

The  congregation  arose  and  united  in  singing  the 
doxology,  "  From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies." 

Before  pronouncing  the  Benediction,  Dr.  Crosby 
spoke  as  follows : 

I  have  never  been  so  frightened  or  embarrassed  in  all 
my  life  but  once,  and  that  was  thirty-seven  years  ago,  a 
little  before  I  was  married.  I  will  say  just  a  word  be- 
fore pronouncing  the  benediction.  As  I  sec  these  dear 
brethren  on  the  platform  with  me  my  mind   reverts  to 


6S 

that  evening  twenty  years  ago,  when  I  stood  in  this 
aisle,  and  four  dear  brethren  installed  me  as  pastor  of 
the  Presbytery.  Where  are  those  four  ?  Dr.  Samuel 
Hanson  Cox,  Dr.  William  Adams,  Dr.  Joel  Parker,  and 
Dr.  Henry  B.  Smith,  all  four  have  gone  to  the  eternal 
home.  We  are  here,  but  in  a  few  short  years  we  will  pass 
away  and  others  will  take  our  places.  How  solemn  life 
is  !  how  we  all  ought  to  have  our  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
glorious  future  to  which  our  Lord  directs  us  through 
His  grace.  The  one  thought,  dear  brethren,  that  is  on 
my  mind  to-night,  while  I  thank  these  dear  brethren 
who  have  come  and  saluted  us,  and  thank  you  for  your 
kindness  in  instituting  this  anniversary  festivity  —  the 
one  thought  I  would  have  us  all  entertain  is  the  won- 
derful grace  of  God,  which  is  the  source  of  all  that  is 
good.  If  there  has  been  anything  at  all  good  in  this 
ministry,  I  can  recognize  that  grace  as  especially  exhib- 
iting itself  through  three  channels  :  first,  my  own  dear 
father  and  mother,  who  brought  me  up  from  my  earliest 
childhood  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  who  prayed  from 
the  beginning  that  I  should  be  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
for  Christ  ;  secondly,  the  loving  regard  and  fellowship 
and  example  of  these  dear  brethren  with  whom  I  asso- 
ciate from  day  to  day,  and  from  whom  I  learn  so  much  ; 
and,  thirdly,  your  own  constant,  faithful,  sympathetic 
upholding,  your  unwearying  Christian  labors,  your  con- 
sistent example  to  me,  your  pastor.  No  pastor  could 
help  being  fervent,  if  not  faithful,  with  such  a  constitu- 


69 

€ncy  as  you  are,  always  with  him.  These  are  the  mani- 
festations of  the  Divine  grace.  As  I  said  before,  let  us 
all  ever  lean  upon  that  grace  which  forgives  our  iniqui- 
ties, which  renews  our  character,  which  prepares  our 
home,  which  conducts  us  to  it. 

Eenediction  by  the  Pastor. 


PASTORS,    ELDERS,    AND    DEACONS 

OF  THE 

Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 

FROM 

ITS    ORGANIZATION    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME. 


PASTORS. 

MATTHIAS    BRUEN,  -        .        .        .  Installed  June,  1825. 

ERSKINE    MASON,     -----  "  Sept.  10,  1830. 

JOEL    PARKER,  -        -        .        .        .  >'  April  25,  1S52. 

HOWARD  CROSBY,  -        -        .        -  -  March  25,  1S63. 


ELDERS. 
^^a7ne.  Date  of  Installation. 

Knowles  Taylor April  24,  1825. 

Marcus  Wilbur "  " 

Simeon  Hyde August  7,  1833. 

Joseph  Brewster "  " 

Abijah  Fisher     " 

John  A.  Davenport October  21,  1838. 

Elijah  H.  Kimball 

Jared  W.  Tracy December  4,  1842. 

Charles  Gould ....  "  " 

William  A.  Wheeler 

James  C.   Bliss  November  12,  1843. 

John  E    Hyde 

William  Faxon <*  •« 

Oscar  F.  Avery June  8,  1862. 

Marcus  C  RiGGs "  " 

Theodore  McNamee November  8,  1863. 


71 

Name.  Date  of  Installation. 

Ralph  Wells October  2,  1864. 

Charles  Taylor "  " 

D.  B,  St.  John  Roosa January  7,  1866. 

James  G.  Baldwin 

Lawrence  P.  Cummings February  24,  1867. 

Cornelius  W.  Brinckerhoff "  •' 

William  F.  Lee "  " 

Henry  Parsons October  24,  1869. 

J.  Bennet  Tyler "  " 

Walter  Edwards,  Jr July  10,  1870. 

George  W.  Lamson April  28,  1872. 

George  Pancoast " 

James  McIntosh January  18,  1874. 

George  E.  Sterry December  23,  1874. 

James  M.  Farr "  " 

Albert  J.  Lyon April  13,  1879. 

George  L.  Newcomb "  " 

Charles  N.  Taintor   February  6,  1881. 

Warner  Van  Norde?c "  " 


DEACONS. 
Norman  White August  4,  1833. 

John  T.  Gilchrist "  " 

Peter  A.  Cowdrey November  12,  1843. 

John  S.  King ......  " 

Alfred  Riggs February  iS,  1S47. 

Royal  H.  Waller " 

M.  M.  Backus January  3,  1850. 

George  P.  Fitch 

J.  Hervey  Ackerman November  S,  1863. 

Henry  Parsons February  24,  1867. 

Elias  J.   Herrick October  24,  1869. 

William  B.  Crosby 

Reuben  Langdon April  28,  1872. 

M.   M.   Budlong February  6.  1S81. 

William  E.  Bullard 

John  Stewart 


ANNIVERSARY    SERMQN. 

PREACHED    BY    DR.    CROSBY,    ON    SUNDAY    MORNING, 
MARCH   4,  18S3. 


ANNIVERSARY    SERMON. 


"  That  day  they  offered  great  sacrifices  and  rejoiced  :  for  God  had 
made  them  rejoice  with  great  joy  :  the  wives  also  and  the  chil- 
dren rejoiced  :  so  that  the  joy  of  Jerusalem  was  heard  even  afar 
off." — Neh.  xii.  43, 

In  the  Book  of  Proverbs  we  find  this  profound  saying, 
"  The  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness  ;  and  a  stranger 
doth  not  intermeddle  with  its  joy."  It  is  the  recognition 
of  the  inward  source  of  grief  and  joy,  and  the  conse- 
quently circumscribed  limits  of  their  effects  in  any  one 
case.  In  one  house  there  is  jubilation  ;  in  the  very  next 
house  there  is  mourning.  One  city  is  full  of  flags  and 
drums  on  the  receipt  of  a  great  civic  blessing  ;  another 
city  that  same  day  is  plunged  in  gloom,  and  the  funeral 
toll  of  a  hundred  bells  proclaims  the  fearful  ravages  of 
the  plague.  The  happy,  light-hearted  man  stands  by  the 
side  of  one  whose  heart  is  pierced  with  agony. 

The  thouo^ht  should  beQ^et  in  us  two  results — a  careful 
search  for  the  true  spring  of  joy  in  the  heart,  and  a  pres- 
ence in  our  joy  of  a  true  sympathy  for  those  who  are  in 
affliction.  The  search  for  the  spring  of  joy  will  lead  the 
soul  to  God,  who  alone  can  minister  a  joy  which  sur- 
mounts earthly  sorrow,  and  our  sympathy  will  always 
have  proper  objects  of  its  healthful  regard. 

The  joy  of  Jerusalem  on  the  day  to  which  our  text 
refers  was  a  joy  in  God.  Nehemiah  had  completed  the 
walls  of  the  city  in  spite  of  enemies  without  and  within, 
and  the  holy  city  began  to  appear  something  like  what  it 


76 

had  been  in  the  olden  time  before  the  Babylonian  destruc- 
tion. A  religiojs  reform  had  accompanied  this  temporal 
prosperity,  and  the  people  had,  in  two  great  processions 
meeting  one  another,  passed  around  the  new  walls,  and  had 
joined  in  the  temple  courts  to  sing  praises  to  God,  who 
had  so  signally  blessed  them.  Their  faith  offered  up  the 
sacrifices  that  symbolized  God's  pardoning  grace,  and 
their  shouts  of  joy,  that  filled  the  air  with  happy  tumult, 
spoke  out  their  gratitude  to  Heaven.  It  was  one  of  the 
golden  days  of  Israel,  marked  by  the  characteristics  of  a 
true  and  manly  piety.  But  one  had  to  be  an  Israelite  to 
enjoy  that  day.  He  had  to  be  personally  united  to  the 
history  and  destiny  of  Jerusalem  to  hold  the  secret  of 
that  happiness.  Even  a  Job  in  the  land  of  Uz  (if  there 
were  any  such  Job  in  that  late  day)  could  not  have  taken 
part  in  this  joy,  except  by  a  generous  sympathy.  The 
conditions  of  the  Israelite  made  it  distinctively  an  Israel- 
ite's joy. 

And  so  is  it  with  us  in  our  churches  to-day.  There  is 
a  special  individual  life  to  each  company  of  Ciiristians, 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  which  are  peculiarly  their  own  ; 
and  while  other  Christians  may,  through  a  noble  sympa- 
thy, show  a  true  fellowship  at  these  times,  yet  the  real 
secret  of  the  joy  or  grief  belongs  only  to  the  special 
church. 

We,  the  members  of  this  Fourth  Avenue  Church,  go 
about  our. Jerusalem  to-day.  We  join  together  to  lift  up 
our  hearts  in  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  God  for  His 
abundant  mercies.  We  have  come  to  one  of  those  natural 
marks  of  passing  time,  where  it  becomes  us  to  review  the 
past  and  to  take  courage  for  the  future.  For  twenty  years 
I  have  been  permitted  to  minister  to  this  church.  In  all 
that  time,  with  the  exception  of  the  summer  vacation  of 
six  weeks,  and  the  fulfilment  of  duty  at  Synod  and  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  I  have  been  absent  from  the  church  but 


17 

four  months,  three  of  which  were  on  account  of  illness 
and  one  in  order  to  attend  the  Presbyterian  Council  in 
Edinburgh.  Thus  graciously  has  God  spared  my  health 
for  so  long  a  period.  In.  that  time  I  have  been  permitted 
to  see  the  church  grow  from  about  120  to  1,400  members, 
and  to  become  one  of  the  most  active  and  useful  churches 
in  the  whole  Presbyterian  denomination.  About  2,000 
have  united  with  us  in  these  20  years,  the  exact  figures 
being  these  :   1,095  ^n  profession,  880  on  certificate. 

Of  these,  1,263  worshipped  in  this  building,  and  712  in 
the  missions.  Of  the  712  in  the  missions,  639  joined  by 
profession  and  73  by  certificate  ;  27  of  the  whole  number 
left  after  uniting  with  us  and  then  returned,  so  that  they 
are  counted  twice. 

The  number  of  additions  by  profession  have  averaged 
23  per  year  here,  and  32  per  year  at  the  missions. 

Of  our  present  number  of  1,400  communicants,  as  far 
as  v/e  can  ascertain,  there  must  be  400  who  can  not  be 
found,  many  of  these  moving  away  from  the  church  or 
the  missions  and  failing  to  ask  for  their  letters  of  dismis- 
sion. The  church  has  been  a  missionary  church.  Grace 
Mission  and  Hope  Mission  have  been  for  nearly  all  this 
period  of  twenty  years  monuments  of  the  patient  and 
faithful  energy  of  Christian  hearts.  The  large  pecuniary 
burden  of  the  support  of  the  flourishing  missions  has  been 
easily  and  cheerfully  borne.  Faith  Mission  and  Gospel 
Mission  were  for  several  years  maintained  by  this  church, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  Chinese  Mission  was  started  b}' 
the  indomitable  zeal  of  Miss  Goodrich,  so  that  five  mis- 
sions flourished  at  one  time  under  the  fostering  care  of 
the  devoted  men  and  women  of  this  Fourth  Avenue 
Church.  The  benevolent  gifts  of  the  church  have  been 
an  average  of  nearly  $17,000  a  year,  and  the  expenses 
of  the  church  have  amounted  to  over  $18,000  a  year,  so 
that  a  total  of  $35,000   a  year  have  been  contributed  by 


78 

the  members  of  the  congregation,  apart  from  all  their 
private  gifts,  of  which  the  church  can  take  no  cognizance. 
I  can  not  but  regard  this  as  a  very  large  amount,  coming 
from  a  church  in  which  very  little  pecuniary  wealth  has 
been  known.  Indeed,  it  has  been  a  matter  of  congratula- 
tion that  no  few  rich  men  have  represented  the  church  by 
large  donations,  but  that  the  great  aggregates  have  been 
made  by  the  hearty  contributions  of  all.  The  church  has 
ever  been  a  giving  as  well  as  a  working  church. 

The  church,  moreover,  has  been  a  harmonious  church. 
Not  a  ripple  of  strife  or  division  has  been  ever  seen 
among  us.  There  has  been  promoted  by  all  a  strong 
family  feeling,  and  brotherly  love  has  been  exhibited 
throughout  the  church  life.  The  appointed  assemblies  of 
the  church  have  been  well  attended,  and  the  congregation 
has  always  entered  with  earnestness  into  the  public  serv- 
ices. The  member  of  the  church  oldest  in  connection  is 
Mrs.  Bruen,  the  widow  of  Rev.  Matthias  Bruen,  who  was 
one  of  the  twelve  that  constituted  the  church  in  1825. 
She  now  lives  in  Newport,  in  a  happy  old  age.  Miss 
Susan  Dederer  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Hickox,  who  united 
1831,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  H.  Green,  who  united  1836  (and 
who  v/as  so  active  in  her  Christian  usefulness  among  us), 
come  next  in  order.  Then  follow  Mr.  Richard  B.  Kimball 
and  Mr.  John  G.  Williams.  But  all  these  are  now  provi- 
dentially parted  from  us.  The  members  oldest  in  connec- 
tion who  are  now  present  with  us  are  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Cole 
and  Deacon  George  P.  Fitch,  who  united  in  1841.  These 
are  all  who  remain  from  Dr.  Erskine  Mason's  day.  Of 
those  who  joined  in  Dr.  Parker's  pastorate  there  are  still 
with  us  only  the  following  :  Norman  G.  Kellogg,  Mrs. 
Rachel  B.  McCauley,  Miss  Eliza  F.  x\rnold,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
E.  W.  Hutchings,  Miss  Van  Bokle,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel 
Churchill,  Mrs.  Van  Amringe,  Miss  Susan  Van  Amringe, 
Mrs.   Keeler  and  Mr.  George  E.  Sterry.     These   are   the 


79 

only  14  worshipping  with  us  to-day  who  were  present  in 
the  church  when  I  became  its  pastor. 

The  church  has  had  (in  its  whole  history  of  58  years) 
35  elders.  Of  these,  17  have  rested  from  their  earthly 
labors,  i  has  entered  the  Gospel  ministry,  5  have  removed 
to  other  churches,  and  12  remain,  although  four  of  these 
are  unable,  through  illness,  to  discharge  their  official 
duties. 

The  church  has  also  had  (in  its  whole  history  of  58 
years)  16  deacons.  Of  these,  5  have  died,  5  have  been 
dismissed  to  other  churches,  and  6  remain,  one  of  whom, 
Mr.  George  P.  Fitch,  has  held  his  office  for  ;^^  years. 

I  need  not  give  particulars  concerning  the  two  missions 
and  one  home  Sunday-school.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
113  devoted  servants  of  the  Lord  are  continually  giving 
their  faithful  labor  to  these  departments  of  evangelistic 
work,  which  show  an  efficiency  and  faithfulness  indicative 
of  the  zeal  and  faith  so  engaged. 

During  my  twenty  years'  pastorate,  a  hundred  and 
sixty-two  of  our  members  have  been  removed  from,  earth 
to  heaven.  This  is  exclusive  of  the  missions,  where  the 
record  of  deaths  has  evidently  not  been  kept  with  exact- 
ness, as  only  32  deaths  in  all  have  been  reported.  The 
162  in  twenty  years  makes  an  average  of  more  than  eight 
a  year  who  leave  our  fellowship  here  for  the  Church 
Triumphant. 

During  the  twenty  years,  we  have  dismissed  to  other 
churches  642  members,  an  average  of  32  per  year  ;  re- 
ceiving from  other  churches,  on  the  other  hand,  a  yearly 
average  of  44.  This  fact  shows  the  fluctuating  character 
of  a  part  of  our  city  congregations.  I  say  "  a  part,"  be- 
cause there  is  a  solid  nucleus  of  the  church  which  does 
not  change  ;  but  there  are  roving  Christians  who  never 
stay  long  in  any  one  church,  but,  in  nervous  restlessness, 
flit   from    one    spiritual    home    to    another,    longing   for 


8o 

novelty.  Then  it  should  be  also  remembered  that  changes 
of  residence  sometime  compel  changes  in  church  connec- 
tion, and  such  changes  in  residence  are  all  too  frequent  in 
our  city,  although  very  often  necessary. 

Our  lists  tell  us  of  17  of  our  members  who  have  entered 
the  ministry  during  the  last  twenty  years,  all  of  whom  are 
now  actively  engaged  in  the  important  duties  of  their 
ecclesiastical  office.  Our  record  also  gives  the  sad  state- 
ment of  five  of  our  members  excommunicated  for  gross 
offences,  which  rendered  their  fellowship  impossible. 

In  the  course  of  the  twenty  years  an  old  debt  of  40,000 
dollars  has  been  paid  off,  and  the  church  has  built  for 
itself  the  beautiful  and  commodious  chapel  building  con- 
tiguous, and  the  plain,  but  neat  and  useful,  edifice  for 
Grace  Mission,  besides  contributing  toward  a  fund  for  the 
purchase  of  an  edifice  for  Hope  Mission.  I  think  that  all 
these  expenses  together  would  amount  to  nearly  a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  from  which  would  be  deducted 
16,000  dollars,  which,  by  some  oversight,  still  remains  as 
a  mortgage  upon  our  chapel. 

In  importance  as  a  church  of  energy  and  efficiency,  the 
Fourth  Avenue  Church  stands  very  high  in  the  roll  of 
churches  connected  with  the  General  Assembly.  Of  the 
5,744  churches  on  the  roll,  our  beloved  church  stands 
among  the  first  ten. 

The  church  has  had  but  four  pastors  in  its  58  years  of 
existence. 

First  was  that  most  active  and  honored  man  of  God, 
the  Rev.  Matthias  Bruen,  whose  memory  is  most  precious 
in  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church,  by  reason  of  his  zeal 
in  the  cause  of  missions,  and  who  was  the  actual  founder 
as  well  as  first  pastor  of  this  church.  His  pastorate  only 
continued  four  years,  when  a  sudden  death  removed  him 
from  a  mourning  people  at  the  early  age  of  ;^6  years. 

Dr.  Erskine  Mason,  the  second  pastor,  was  third  in 
lineal  descent  of  that  renowned  family  of  distinguished 


8i 

ministers  whose  names  are  cherished  in  the  annals  of  New 
York.  Grandson  of  Dr.  John  Mason,  and  son  of  Dr.  John 
M.  Mason,  whose  fame  extended  to  both  sides  of  the 
ocean,  he  was  the  equal  of  both  father  and  grandfather  in 
the  faithfulness  of  his  ministry,  the  culture  of  his  mind, 
and  the  eloquence  of  his  discourse.  For  20  years  this 
noble  preacher  ministered  to  this  church,  when,  in  the 
vigor  of  his  days,  at  only  46  years  of  age,  he  was  taken 
from  his  labors  to  his  reward. 

In  1852  Dr.  Joel  Parker  came.  He  had  been  an  earnest 
and  successful  preacher  both  in  New  York  and  New 
Orleans.  He  was  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  years  when 
he  began  his  ministr)^  Under  his  guidance,  the  church 
moved  from  the  edifice  in  Bleecker  Street,  which  it  had 
occupied  26  years,  and  planted  itself  in  1852  on  this  pres- 
ent site,  then  the  extreme  north  of  the  city.  This  caused 
a  change  in  the  name  from  "  The  Bleecker  Street  Church  " 
to  "The  Fourth  Avenue  Church."  The  change  of  posi- 
tion was  perhaps  premature.  At  least,  it  was  made 
against  a  very  strong  protest  on  the  part  of  a  large 
minority,  and  hence  Dr.  Parker  labored  against  great  dis- 
advantages. He  closed  his  ministry  here  in  1863,  and, 
after  a  few  years'  ministry  in  Newark,  returned  to  wor- 
ship with  us  till  his  death,  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  74  years. 

If  these  three  venerated  pastors  of  other  days  w^ere  now 
alive,  we  should  not  see  much  difference  in  their  ages. 
Mr.  Bruen  would  be  scarcely  90,  Dr.  Mason  would  be  78, 
and  Dr.  Parker  would  be  84.  They  all  belonged  to  the 
same  generation.  With  the  present  pastor  a  new  genera- 
tion was  represented  in  the  pulpit.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox  took  part  in  the 
installation  of  each  of  the  four  pastors  of  this  church. 

But  this  is  enough  of  statistical  and  historical  matter. 
Let  me  add  a  few  words  of  the  spirit  and  character  of  the 
church.     Never  has  pastor  had  a  happier  lot  than   the 


82 

pastor  of  this  Fourth  Avenue  Church.  He  has  always 
found  himself  surrounded  by  men  and  women  of  the  best 
type  of  Christian  life.  They  have  been  ever  to  him  an 
example  and  an  encouragement.  Forward  in  Christian 
work,  liberal  in  pecuniary  gifts  to  the  causes  of  Christian 
benevolence,  lenient  toward  his  faults,  giving  him  a  cor- 
dial support  and  co-operation  at  all  times,  this  people 
have  filled  his  soul  with  joy  and  thanksgiving,  and  if 
good  has  been  done  by  the  pulpit,  the  cause  is  to  be 
found  largely  in  the  pews.  The  pastor  has  never  had  an 
adverse  word  spoken  to  him,  or  anything  but  a  hearty 
greeting  given  him  by  the  members  of  this  flock.  He  has 
never  heard  of  an  unkind  word  spoken  of  him  to  others. 
On  the  contrary,  he  has  received  such  kind  words  as  he 
has  felt  he  in  no  way  deserved,  but  which,  nevertheless 
(such  is  human  nature),  he  enjoyed  appropriating.  It  is 
not  strange  that  my  heart  has  grown  fast  to  this  church  as 
the  lichen  to  the  rock.  It  is  not  strange  that,  outside  of 
my  own  immediate  family,  my  warmest  affections  seek 
their  outflow  here.  Each  mernber  is  a  brother,  a  sister 
most  dear,  in  whom  I  see  my  Saviour's  likeness,  and  with 
whom  I  shall  dwell  forever  in  that  Saviour's  home.  God 
has  prospered  us,  and  to-day  we  proclaim  the  thanks- 
giving of  our  hearts,  as  did  Nehemiah  and  his  brethren 
at  Jerusalem.  We  recognize  our  gracious  Lord  as  the 
giver  of  all  this  good.  We  would  not  have  a  boasting 
spirit,  but  rather  a  grateful  spirit,  as  we  devoutly  thank 
the  Author  of  all  our  peace. 

May  we  not  allow  any  worldly  ambition  to  enter  this 
church.  May  we  not  seek  to  please  men,  but  God.  May 
we  continue  to  love  the  simple  and  pure  Gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  May  we  forget  the  things  that  are 
behind  (except  to  be  thankful  for  them),  and  press  for- 
ward to  new  work  for  Jesus  and  new  happiness  in  that 
work.     May  we  remember  our  dear  brethren  and  sisters 


83 

in  heaven,  who  used  to  sit  with  us  here,  and  who  to-day- 
are  witnesses  of  our  joy  ;  and  may  thoughts  of  those 
saints  quicken  our  piety  and  give  us  larger  views  of  life 
and  duty.  May  we  hasten  to  complete  what  we  find  un- 
finished, to  supply  what  we  find  lacking,  to  build  up  what 
we  find  broken  down  in  the  structure  of  our  lives,  using 
for  this  the  Word  of  God,  which  is  given  to  make  us  per- 
fect (2  Tim.  iii.  17),  and  that  Mercy-Seat  to  which  we  each 
have  free  access  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  Let 
us  in  this  way  avoid  all  the  follies  of  the  world  and  all 
the  fallacies  of  an  infidel  philosophy,  and  maintain  the 
inspiring  knowledge  of  the  presence  of  Him  with  whom 
we  can  fear  no  evil,  until  in  His  grace  and  power  He 
shall  usher  us  into  the  glory  into  which  so  many  of  our 
dear  ones  have  preceded  us. 


